Love Me, Love Me
by K-K-Girl
Summary: WARNING contains abuse et al. AU on Chihiro's childhood, C/H! not for queasy stomach peeps.
1. The Love of a Brother

A/N: *malicious laughter* HA! I think that this will be my best ficlet yet! *rubs hands together* ho yeah, I am SO downright-devilishly-devious that it's freaky! BUAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!! *cough* sorry.  
  
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING except for this plot and a couple of unfamiliar characters  
  
Setting/summery/genre/rating: this is set before Moving Away, thus, before the movie. Dur. Anyhow, this is an AU [Author's Universe] about how Chihiro ended up losing her shoe in the Kohaku River in the first place. I've changed a couple of things, okay? And this has some *stuff* in it that Chihiro's parents-lovers might not like. So if you like Chihiro's parents, then poo on you! now, where was I? Oh yes. I'm sticking this in the outskirts of Tokyo, got that? There is World Geography Inaccuracy in here! There a forest right next to Chihiro's house, which is about thirty minutes' walk out of the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, 'kay? I'm pretty sure the genre is angst/drama/action/adventure/little bit of horror/and a little bit of fluff. Did I mention that this IS AN AU? Pg13 so I can do whatever I want. Well, mostly whatever I want.  
  
Summery in a nutshell: how and why Chihiro met Haku (who I may refer to as Kohaku [River]), but that's really more of a side story.  
  
Chapter Started: 5/1/03  
Chapter Finished: 5/1/03  
  
Third Person POV  
  
Chihiro is Four or five years old in this. Don't flame me on what ages first graders are - I know that, and for those of you who don't, it's usually six and seven, though once in a while you'll get an eight.  
  
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"Chihiro! Chihiro, come out, now!"  
  
Chihiro only bit her bottom lip harder and tried to make herself smaller as her seventeen year old brother, Hiroshi, stamped around their two-story house angrily, looking for her. Yuuko, her mother, was at the hospital (something about a miscarriage or something - either way, it concerned a baby) and Akio, her father, was with Yuuko. Chihiro had begged him to take her too, but Akio had only told Hiroshi to watch her closely.  
  
"Chihiro! Come on out, my little Chihiro-chan! I said COME OUT!"  
  
Chihiro trembled. Hiroshi had always been like this too her, for as long as she could remember. At first, he had covered everything up - when she couldn't walk. But when she did learn, he began using excuses such as "fell down the stairs" et al, and Chihiro was forced to defend herself on her own.  
  
Once, she had tried telling Yuuko. But, too busy at her joy of finding she would be having another baby, she simply told Chihiro to stick up to him and be a good big sister soon some day. Akio had said likewise.  
  
"CHIHIRO! GET OVER HERE NOW, SHIMATTA!"  
  
Chihiro tasted blood, and gasped, releasing her bottom lip. Hiroshi heard, and fell to a knee, looking under the table at her. A malicious grin spread over his face. "There you are, smart-ass. Come on and be a good imouto and come out of there."  
  
Imouto. Little sister. Chihiro blanched and scooted as far away as she could, bumping into the wall. Hiroshi growled and stood up. He moved the entire table to the side, reached down, and snatched Chihiro up and held her dangling by her wrist.  
  
"Please, no onii-sama! Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai!" she struggled, twisting and kicking with all of her might, pulling fruitlessly at his hand with her free one. "I can't feel my hand!" she cried, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. But she held them back. She knew it would only be worse if she cried.  
  
"Kusumu! Shut up!" Hiroshi snarled, giving her a hard shake. Silently, she closed her mouth and dropped her free hand, handing limply, trying to ignore the pangs her shoulder was sending her brain. "yabuhebi," he said, and carried her like this out to the living room and upstairs. He marched into her room and threw her on her bed, closing the door, and shoving a piece of paper under her nose.  
  
"Explain this!" he sneered. Slowly, Chihiro took the envelope into her hand and unfolded it. she began to tremble; it was a note she had written. It said:  
  
"Hiroshi will kill me if I don't myself.  
  
Bai-bai,  
  
Chihiro"  
  
She trembled harder, remembering. She had written the note and left it on the table, then proceeded to try and kill herself with a bent-out-of-shape paperclip. It had hurt, however, and she had taken the paper and hidden it. how had Hiroshi found it?  
  
"So," he said sweetly. "you thought you could escape so easily? And just when and how were you going to commit suicide, huh, Smart-Alec?"  
  
Chihiro tried to still her trembling, but it only grew worse. She ripped the note up into tiny little pieces, though she knew it was too late. slowly she looked up at Hiroshi, eyes glistening.  
  
"Answer my questions!" he snapped angrily, connecting his hand with her face, snapping her head to the side. tears fell, though, Chihiro couldn't stop them. She reached up quickly to wipe them away while trying to ignore the stinging pain she felt and trying to keep the cracked sob from escaping her throat as she answered.  
  
"W- with poison so it wouldn't hurt," she lied. "last week..."  
  
Hiroshi snorted. "There is no way to die painlessly, my sweet little Chihiro-chan," he said smoothly, playing with Chihiro's tiny ponytail. Slowly, as he spoke, he undid the bow that held her almost-shoulder-length brown hair up. "I thought you might have known better; I mean, you were speaking and walking and talking at a remarkable age. You've been tutored by a special person here at home instead of kindergarten; and tomorrow is going to be your first day at public school, as the youngest first-grader yet." He laughed coldly as her hair finally fell loosely.  
  
Then, faster then Chihiro could blink, his hand shot for her throat, and his fingers tightened around it. she whimpered and swallowed. "Nice try," he hissed in her ear, fingers tightening slowly even more. The muscles in her face began to ache terribly, and her skin above his hand was tingling. She didn't realize that she was crying silently until she was forced to sniff.  
  
Abruptly, he jerked her off her bed and dropped her on the floor. She landed with a yelp, and cried out as his foot connected with her stomach. She coughed, tasting blood as Hiroshi left to answer the ringing phone. She pressed her ear to the carpet, listening intently.  
  
"Oh, hi dad," Hiroshi said cheerfully. "how's mom and the new baby?" there was a long pause. "oh." Another pause. "okay." Yet another, even longer pause. "Sure, I'd love to watch Chihiro for the week. She's going to that three-story elementary school tomorrow, right? Uh-huh......... okay. Oh, dad. Okay, okay, I love you too, alright? Yeah. Whatever. Bye." He hung up.  
  
Chihiro waited maybe five more minutes, and only got up when she heard the door slam shut. Hiroshi was gone.  
  
She made her way to the bathroom and rinsed out her mouth, and washed her face, crying as quietly as she could the whole time. When she finally did calm down enough to stop crying, she inspected the damage: lightly bruised neck and a darker bruise on her stomach. Good. If momma and daddy were gone for the next week, then the bruises would be gone or unnoticeable by the time they got back. She put her hair back up into its tiny ponytail, barely wisps of the brown hair protruding from the tiny bow.  
  
She had to get out of there. The longest Chihiro had ever been left alone with Hiroshi was for a weekend, a month before Yuuko found she would have her third child. It had been horrible. Chihiro wasn't sure how she survived, but she had; maybe it was Hiroshi's girlfriend, who had called a lot. Or, out in the small forest by the house, was the Kohaku River, where Chihiro often ran. They were cutting down the trees a lot, now. She always hoped they would never change the Kohaku River. She talked to it, even, it and the trees. She was weird. Crazy.  
  
School. Tomorrow she would be going to her first day of public school. Chihiro's stomach clenched - would she survive the ride with Hiroshi there and back? Would the kids like her? Would she get lost trying to find her class? Would she make a friend? Chihiro hoped over prayed for the latter one. Maybe if she made a friend, she could stay with them for the rest of the week? Oh gosh, she hoped so. She only had one other friend, and that was the Kohaku River. It was always there for her. The forest - trees and wind, they were her friends too, but the Kohaku River had always, always been there.  
  
Thinking quickly, Chihiro made a fast change of clothes - a white turtle neck shirt with a pair of her pink shorts. The only type of pants she wore were pink shorts, yellow shorts, or tights underneath a dress or skirt. Yuuko often laughed about this, saying she was not only the smartest girl, but also the easiest one to shop for. Downstairs, Chihiro put on her pink shoes - they were a little too big - and grabbed her house key. After making sure that Hiroshi and his car were gone, she slipped out of the house and made a mad dash for the forest. It was maybe fifteen minutes away, but if she ran, she might make it there in five.  
  
However, Chihiro soon ran out of breath, and began to walk shortly after, clutching her side.  
  
Once in the small forest, she sighed and waited a moment, running her small fingers over the rough bark of a tree. She then continued on her way, following the sound of rushing water, until she came to a river; it was a fast-flowing one, and long, and large, and deep, and wide. It was well- known for its rapids, and once in a while, Chihiro might get to watch a kayaker come down it at a fast speed. Relieved at the beautiful sight before her, Chihiro sat down next to the edge, listening to the water whisper.  
  
"You know," she said aloud. "sometimes I feel strange, coming here and talking to you; you're just a river."  
  
The Kohaku River roared in return, as though offended. A fish leapt out and tried to get to where Chihiro was sitting, in the slow-moving shallow water, by bouncing on the slippery rocks. She watched it fail and give up.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. "but I mean, if people knew I talked to the forest and wind and Kohaku River then I'd probably get in really big trouble, and I would be crazy." She giggled. "hey, Kohaku River? Wanna know a secret?" she leaned forward, laying on her stomach, head resting in one hand propped up on an elbow. Her other hand reached out and balanced on the surface closest to her, and she could feel the sandy bottom. The river seemed to whisper to her, almost quiet down, even, as though it wanted to hear her secret! She giggled again, and dropped her voice even more.  
  
"Someday, I'm going to run away. Momma and daddy will be fine, cause they'll have the new baby to handle. Then Hiroshi won't be able to find me, and I'll be safe." Once more she giggled. "ooh, he'd be really mad if he knew what I was planning. I bet he'd even try to destroy you, since you're my only best best best friend."  
  
She didn't notice the fish had been trying again, and this time it succeeded, splashing into the shallow water and swimming quickly away. The droplets of water caressed Chihiro's face, and she closed her eyes and sighed.  
  
"Oh, I know you wouldn't want me to, Kohaku. And I'd really miss you and momma and daddy and I'd like to meet the new baby - a big sister should know her baby brother or sister, right? But Hiroshi will kill me if I don't." that was her usual phrase. 'Hiroshi will kill me if I don't first'. "and I tried, to, I really did, Kohaku. But it hurt, and I don't want to die in pain. So I'll have to run away." she waited a second.  
  
"I wish you could come with me, Kohaku. You really are my only best friend."  
  
The river roared, and Chihiro watched it in silence for a while. "I'm going to try and make another friend, Kohaku, at school. I'm going to my first day *ever* of school tomorrow. Momma and daddy are going to stay at the hospital for the rest of the week. I can't stay with Hiroshi for a week, I know I won't survive, and Kohaku, if there's a chance, even a little bitty small chance to live, I want it! and maybe if I make a human friend, then they'll let me stay at their house for the week, and then I can spend weekends there, and otherwise momma and daddy will either one always be home with the baby to guard me. Hiroshi won't try anything with momma or daddy around."  
  
Again, she watched the Kohaku River in silence. After a while, she looked up at the canopy of trees around her. "What do you guys think?" she asked in a voice loud enough so that they could all hear her. "if I don't make a human friend, then where should I run? What should I do?"  
  
The wind howled, making the leaves and branches rustle. A family of wild rabbits hopped into their burrow across the river, and a fishing bird made a dive for the Kohaku River, snatching a fish partway out. The fish kicked free, however, and the bird flew to a branch hanging over the water, not in the least discouraged.  
  
Chihiro returned her gaze to the Kohaku River, and jumped as she heard a twig snap behind her. Twisting around, Chihiro got to her feet and went to inspect where she had most likely heard it. Nothing. There was a rustle of leaves further back from the river, but there was no wind. "Who's there?" she called loudly.  
  
She thought she felt a hand on her shoulder, a voice so quiet that she couldn't hear it, but still... heard it: "Behind you..." Chihiro whipped around, but saw nothing other than the Kohaku River.  
  
"There's nothing except the Kohaku River behind me," she said, voice trembling. Was she really going crazy? Or had the Kohaku River spoken to her? No. she was just hearing things. Then she caught something out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head just in time to see Hiroshi's sneering face before something hard connected with the back of her head, and she collapsed in pain. She opened her eyes, clutching the back of her head, and saw Hiroshi and his girlfriend, Kimiko, standing above her.  
  
She fought tears valiantly. 'Don't cry, don't cry,' she thought wildly, desperately. 'It'll only make it worse...' Kimiko hated her just as much as Hiroshi did. Chihiro tried not to focus on the pain, or the warm gooey liquid she felt on her fingers, or the ringing in her ears.  
  
"So, thought you'd run away, did you?" Hiroshi sneered. For a moment, Chihiro thought he had heard her, and knew her plan. But then she realized that he would have had to have been right in front of her to hear her whisper. He must have thought that because she wasn't home.  
  
"No," she whimpered. "Onii-sama, I- I- I just came here c- cause I, uhm, I didn't want to be in your way!" great lie Chihiro, she thought angrily. Her breathing quickened.  
  
Kimiko picked her up and held her harshly under her armpits, forcing Chihiro's hands out, not up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw blood on her hand.  
  
"Hiroshi-chan," Kimiko said in the sugary-sweet high voice of hers. "Gaki here is bleeding! It'll get all over my dress."  
  
"Then we'll just have to punish her for ruining your clothes and wash it off, Miko-chan," Hiroshi replied in a voice just as honey-coated. He looked Chihiro directly in the eye. "What do you think, imouto?" he said. "are you a bad girl?"  
  
Chihiro knew this game. She knew it very well, and knew what she was supposed to reply. "Yes I am, Hiroshi-sama." She whispered, praying harder than ever that her tears would not fall. 'Please, please don't cry,' she thought. 'somebody, anybody, let somebody please come and help me...'  
  
"Are you a good girl?"  
  
"No I am not, Hiroshi-sama."  
  
"Are you going to cry?"  
  
Trick question. "N- No, I am not, Hiroshi-sama."  
  
"Do you deserve to be punished?"  
  
It was getting harder and harder to stop the tears from flowing. Her head hurt so, so, so much. She knew that Kimiko's hands would leave bruises. What Chihiro needed now more than anything was to cry, and to be left alone.  
  
"Yes I do, H- Hiroshi-sama."  
  
"Are you going to be punished?"  
  
"Yes I am, Hiroshi-s- sama."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I am a very naughty bad girl. I am always in your way, and I force momma and daddy to play favorites with me; I cry too much; and I bleed too much; and I could ruin Kimiko-sama's clothes."  
  
"How shall we punish her, Miko-chan?" Hiroshi asked, grabbing Chihiro's chin and forcefully pushing her head back, twisting her neck painfully to look upside down at Kimiko. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing, now, or the choked sob that escaped her bent throat. She tried to focus on something else - but what? What? Would Hiroshi kill her for this? Finally, Chihiro settled on the sounds of the leaves rustling haughtily in the wind, the lone caw of a crow, and the rushing of the Kohaku River. They seemed to give her an inward strength and courage - this didn't stop the pain at all.  
  
"All naughty children are spanked," Kimiko said, flipping Chihiro painfully around so that she was facing her. "and even naughtier children are spanked and taught a lesson."  
  
"Especially for being bratty babies and sobbing," Hiroshi snarled, and Chihiro bit her lips, crying out through her teeth in an anguished "Mmmmm!" as the blow to her back made the tears fall even more. 'don't sob, don't sob, don't sob...' "And didn't I tell you to keep. This. Out." Hiroshi continued, yanking out her bow, along with quite a few strands of hair as well.  
  
"I need to practice punishing children for my Home Ec. Class," Kimiko told her, dropping her painfully to the group. Chihiro couldn't hold it in any longer and cried. "SHUT UP!" she was twisted around and thrown over a knee - who's knee? she wondered - and her shirt was forced up and her shorts were yanked down. She yelped at the rush of sudden cold air. And her shoes were removed as well. She wasn't wearing any socks.  
  
Chihiro sobbed even harder then before as a harsh blow landed to her back and bottom. It was from a stick - a long narrow one, that worked as a whip. She could hear it whistle through the air right before it hit her, again and again. Each time, she would scream, and whenever a stick being used broke, something new would be brought up; another harder stick, used for a club; a rock; a shoe; and Kimiko's two-inch long sharp, sharp finger nails even. Chihiro just wished she would die, right then and there. It would be a painful death, but a sweet nothingness would follow.  
  
"Hiroshi-chan!" Kimiko said suddenly. "her head has already ruined my dress!"  
  
"Danm brat!" Hiroshi snarled, and she was ripped off the knee and thrown on her back. She cried out harder as the forest floor bit into her raw backside. His foot connected with her side, then she was hauled up by her hair and dragged to the Kohaku River. Hiroshi and Kimiko splashed out to about their shin height, and Chihiro gasped and, like so many times before, cried out as her bloodied skin connected with the icy water. She immediately regretted her gasp, as her mouth and nose pooled with water, and Hiroshi held her head underneath by gripping her neck.  
  
'He's really going to kill me,' Chihiro thought, struggling wildly. 'somebody, anybody, please help!' suddenly, Chihiro could breathe; she gasped in the oxygen greedily, crying, coughing out as much water as she could. Her body had gone numb, and she opened her eyes wide - and gasped. Hiroshi was still holding her under water by her neck, yet, her numb body was comforted with warm, clean water that was almost painless. Almost. And she. Could. Breathe. She stopped struggling, and her eyes moved to the left, then right. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she saw a dragon; a beautiful white one with a flowing greenish blue mane. Its scales were like rushing water themselves. It seemed to comfort her, to want to comfort her... she closed her eyes, not believing it. "Kokahu?" she asked, opening them again.  
  
Immediately, pain shot through her body, and she screamed once more. She coughed, hard, and tasted blood, then realized she was being held up by her ankle. By Hiroshi. His face was cold, and Kimiko drew back her fist once more, hitting Chihiro in the stomach until all of the water, her stomach's contents, and blood, were out. She then pummeled her face before giving it up and washing her fist off in the Kohaku River.  
  
"I think she's been punished enough," Kimiko announced, sloshing back to shore. Hiroshi followed her.  
  
"Have you been punished enough?" he demanded. The game again.  
  
"Y- yes Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro choked out. He dropped her on the ground, and leaned in close.  
  
"Have you learned you lesson well?"  
  
"Yes I h- h- have h-h- Hiroshi-Sam- ma."  
  
"Good." He said, kicked her one last time, and he and Kimiko left. Chihiro felt so light headed it wasn't funny. Her body was wracked with pain, and she sobbed there on the ground for a while until blissful oblivion took over her. She hadn't had a beating that bad since the weekend spent with Hiroshi.  
  
As she slept, she dreamt also; and somehow woke up enough to control her body yet still feel detached enough to dismiss the pain. She lay down in the shallows of the Kohaku River and fell asleep again.  
  
And she dreamt:  
  
She was floating freely, breathing easily, under water. She could breathe - in and out, in and out - and she wasn't wearing anything. She wasn't bothered, though. The water was warm and comforting, and caressed her gently, almost paternally, for lack of better word - as she floated on and on forever and ever. All around her was water - behind in front to the left and right, above, below. It faded into just blueness. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, a dragon was there. His eyes were a strange, piercing green, and he gently nosed her.  
  
"Am I dead?" Chihiro asked, and though only bubbles escaped her mouth.  
  
Bubbles escaped his nose, and he began to swim away. "No, wait!" Chihiro cried. There was a boy - with the same eyes as the dragon. He had almost shoulder length raven-colored hair, and he gentle held her cheek. He closed his eye and pressed his lips to her forehead. Then began to fade away.  
  
"Don't leave me," she murmured, opening her eyes. She blinked. The sun was just rising, and she was laying in the shallow water of the Kohaku River. Its little waves cascaded over her, and she felt a lot better, as she remembered how she had gotten there.  
  
Standing up, Chihiro splashed out of the water, and squeaked as a blast of wind almost knocked her over. She steadied herself against a tree, falling to her knees. It was so hot! Then it was over. Shakily, she stood and realized she was all dry.  
  
Slowly, she looked back to the Kohaku River, which went on with its usual roaring against the rapids. Had she had a dream? She had. A dream. But what had it been about? She couldn't remember. But it had been important. Moving sluggishly, Chihiro got dressed carefully, not wanting to hurt herself; not while she was pain-free. She began to leave, but stopped, and turned. She couldn't shake the feeling that whatever she had dreamed had been important, and she should remember it.  
  
"Thank you, Kohaku River," she whispered. "you're a good friend." Then she turned and sprinted away, though a little bit slow from her too-big shoes.  
  
Hiroshi was there, just getting in his car. He looked at Chihiro and sneered. "hurry up," he snarled, flinging in her light blue backpack. She had already packed it the day Yuuko and she had gone shopping for it. Chihiro clambered in and buckled her seatbelt. They drove to her new school in silence. Hiroshi pulled to a stop in the parking lot, and Chihiro stared up at the large three stories of brick in amazement. The bell had just finished ringing, and she knew she would be late.  
  
"Look here," he snapped, and Chihiro looked at her brother, unbuckling her seatbelt. He grabbed her hair and yanked at it repeatedly, and Chihiro bit into her bottom lip to stop from crying out or whimpering. He turned her around, and continued his yanking, fingering the sore spot on the back of her scalp. When he finally stopped the painful yanking, he turned her around again and ordered her to close her eyes. He dabbed some cold stuff over her temple and on her right side of her jaw. Then on her neck. When he stopped, he blew over her face, then told her to open her eyes, and held up a mirror. Chihiro couldn't stop a gasp from escaping her partly opened lips.  
  
Her hair had been French-braided back all around her head except for a few wisps of bangs. All of the tiny French braids came together at the top/back of her head, hiding the bump there, and became a normal ponytail. Her hair wasn't long enough to actually hang down, but when she moved her head, she could feel the little bobbing pony tail beat her head gently all aroung. Her usually pale face and neck were more filled in, but only slightly. Not enough to really notice. Her cheeks were a little rosier, and her lips a little pinker.  
  
Make-up.  
  
She looked back at Hiroshi. "Thank you, onii-sama," she whispered, lowering her head in a bow. She liked the feeling of her little boppy ponytail hitting the top of her head.  
  
"Whatever," he said. "don't talk a lot. In fact, avoid talking or smiling or anything like that whatsoever, got it?"  
  
"Yes, Hiroshi-sama." Chihiro said obediently, unsure if her was playing the game with her again. He wasn't.  
  
"Good." Hiroshi said, then got out. He walked around the front end of the car, opened Chihiro's door, and took her out. Balancing her light frame on his hip, he pushed her seat forward, and set her on the floor of the back. Being careful of her face and neck, he took off her crumpled and bloodstained shirt, and, again being extremely mindful of her neck and face, replaced it with a light purple turtle-neck. Then he replaced her shorts with a small light purple skirt, being careful of her lower back and bottom, much to Chihiro's surprise.  
  
Then he examined her ears carefully before fastening some small, purple earrings in. purple was her favorite color. She wondered if he had gotten all of this stuff for her - did this mean everything was over between them? Would they be real brother and sister like on the TV? He retied her pink shoes, then lifted her out, closing the car door and pocketing his keys. He set her on her feet and examined her from all angles, head to toe.  
  
"Right," he said. "remember what I said about moving those lips and exercising that voice box of yours," his tone became harsh and warning. Chihiro bowed again. "Yes, Hiroshi-sama." She said.  
  
"Good." He snapped, and snatched her up once more onto his hip.  
  
He carried her stiffly inside, and went to the other end of the first floor. The many hallways and rooms were dizzying to Chihiro, and she had to blink a lot to keep from rocking right out of Hiroshi's arms. Finally, they reached the office, and entered.  
  
"I'm checking Ogino Chihiro in for her first day," he said to the secretary. She smiled at Chihiro.  
  
"My, what a pretty young lady. A bit late, aren't you? school started three weeks ago."  
  
Chihiro stiffened, unsure if she would be punished for that. Was that Hiroshi's plan? To have her punished?  
  
"I am in a hurry, if you'll excuse me," Hiroshi said. "does she need an excuse? What's her first class?"  
  
"Grade school, honey, one class all day." the secretary replied, doing something on her computer. Then she scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Hiroshi, who put Chihiro down on her own feet. She noted the floor was made of marble - or something shiny and pretty like it.  
  
"Room 498 third floor, second hallway to your left," she said, handing the paper to Hiroshi. He bowed and left.  
  
He came back a second later. "Are you coming, Chihiro?" his voice was completely neutral. "Oh," Chihiro said, bowed, then exited with her brother.  
  
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A/N: well? Waddaya think? 


	2. School

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING except for this plot and a couple of unfamiliar characters. For those of you who might be confused, I only own Rumi's last name. She is introduced in the very VERY beginning of the movie as the one who wrote the card to Chihiro. Rumi is, I mean. I don't know her last name, so I made it up. Also, Sensei is Japanese for teacher or doctor. And the Japanese talk to each other by their family names unless they're really close, or so I gather. P.S. I'll do a double post of chapters if anybody can guess the character names I stole from a different anime show. ^_~  
  
Chapter Started: 5/1/04 Chapter Finished: 5/1/03 .  
  
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right after the last chapter  
  
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He walked quickly, and she had trouble keeping up with him, especially on the stairs. Finally, after what seemed like forever later, they stopped gasping at a door at the end of a hallway. Next to it was a large window, and Chihiro wished she could look out it without seeing only a bright white sky with clouds.  
  
"This is it," Hiroshi said when she had caught her breath. "remember what I said about talking - and here's a tip for you: school, nobody likes the new kids. So keep your head down, and your eyes down, and only speak to the teacher if you're spoken to. Is that clear?"  
  
was he playing the game on and off?  
  
"Yes it is, Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro said, dropping her head. No problem - she liked the floor. It was very pretty.  
  
Hiroshi knocked once on the door, then opened it. it was a fairly large room, and there were around twenty students all in desks, which were in neat rows. The teacher, a young woman that looked almost as though she were maybe a couple of years older than Hiroshi, sat at a large desk in front of the class. Everybody looked up as they entered, and Chihiro quickly lowered her head. She'd seen enough to instantly like the teacher, though.  
  
She was very pretty; her eyes were a sparkling light blue, and her hair was down to her waist, a sparkling golden hue. She smiled prettily, and after telling the class quietly to get back to work, she stood up and shook hands with Hiroshi.  
  
"This is my sister, Ogino Chihiro," he said. "she's new here. I'm terribly sorry she's entering so late in the year. And day."  
  
"Oh, it's quite all right, Mr., uh...?"  
  
"Hiroshi." He said quickly.  
  
"Mr. Ogino Hiroshi," she said, smiling prettily again. "thank you, very much. I'm certain that we can get Miss Ogino Chihiro settled in." she looked at Chihiro and smiled, kneeling. "my, what a beautiful young lady," she said. "and you look very young. How old are you?"  
  
Chihiro looked quickly at Hiroshi. He nodded. She looked back at the teacher and smiled a little bit.  
  
"I'm gonna be six in one more week," she said in almost a whisper, or mumble. She knew that nobody in the class had heard her, and could see the teacher straining to hear her as well.  
  
"My!" she said, eyes flying open. "then there must be a mistake. The kindergarten is on the first floor, dears."  
  
"No," Hiroshi explained. "she started talking at an earlier age than usual, and ended up getting legally tutored for kindergarten during the earlier part of her life. It's been a big mess, and a lot of social engineering was used on my father's part, but now she's starting first grade. Pay no mind to her age."  
  
"Well," the teacher looked back at Chihiro. "in that case, welcome to our class, Miss Ogino! It's almost recess, so would you mind staying here with me so that we can get you caught up?"  
  
"No Sensei, I don't mind," she whispered, carefully adjusting her foot.  
  
Hiroshi coughed and bowed. "It's been a pleasure," he said. "be good, Chihiro. I'll pick you up in the front."  
  
And he left, closing the door softly behind him. Immediately, the class began to whisper, and the teacher looked up and arched an eyebrow at them. They all shut up.  
  
"Now, class; we have a new student. Her name is Ogino Chihiro. Miss Ogino, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?"  
  
"No Sensei," Chihiro whispered.  
  
The teacher frowned slightly. "Alright, then. Your seat is the one in the back, there, between Miss Watabe Rumi and Miss Yonai Juri. Wave, girls, so she knows where to sit!"  
  
A girl with medium black hair and crystal-blue flecked eyes waved at Chihiro madly, and the other, a blond with bored gray eyes flicked a wrist. Nervously, Chihiro took the seat between them and pulled her backpack onto her lap, wishing that everybody would stop staring at her. Silently, she thanked all that was mighty for putting her in the back.  
  
"Children," Sensei said. "pay attention. Now-" she was cut off, however, by a loud bell that made Chihiro jump three feet up in the air. Luckily, however, everybody was rushing to get out the door loudly, so this went unnoticed. Except by the two girls next to her.  
  
"Geeze Ogino, chill," the bored girl, Yonai (Juri) said, getting up and leaving as well.  
  
"You seem a bit jumpy," Watabe (Rumi) noted. But she didn't get up and leave. Chihiro wished she would. Once the halls were quiet once more, and sounds of screams and laughter could be heard from outside on the playground, Sensei walked back to Chihiro and Rumi.  
  
"Miss Watabe, don't you want to go to recess?"  
  
"No thank you, Sensei. I'd rather help Ogino. I know what it's like being new and all."  
  
"Ah." The teacher smiled at her, then turned kindly to Chihiro, who sunk down in her seat. "Miss Ogino, first I would like to let you know what the rules are: no screaming, hitting, or cheating, understand?"  
  
"Yes Sensei." Would the teacher play the game with her? God, Chihiro hoped not. She had wanted to use school as a way to escape as well, not have some lovely teacher take up where Hiroshi left off.  
  
"Good. I'll have Miss Watabe show you around and where your locker is, and the rules in more detail. Now, what I want to focus on right now is what you know; I don't want you to fall behind if you've been home-schooled - so young! - and started so late in the year. First, can you sing your ABC's for me?"  
  
"Sing?" Chihiro repeated dumbly, examining one of her pencils. It was a sparkly one that said 'Chihiro' on it in lovely, glittery colors.  
  
"Well, say, then."  
  
"Oh." Chihiro spoke as quickly as she could, trying not to part her lips or look up. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z."  
  
"Okay, then. I'm going to give you a couple of papers. One is going to test your reading skills and the other your math skills. Can you do them for me? don't help her, Miss Watabe."  
  
"I won't," Rumi said innocently.  
  
Chihiro took two papers, and Sensei sharpened her name pencil for her. For a second, she just admired the tip of the lead, then set her backpack between her feet and leaned over the math paper.  
  
Then the reading paper.  
  
She handed them back to Sensei, who looked over them. "we'll have to work on your subtracting, but otherwise I think your pretty fit." She smiled warmly. "I have a little rule in my class; and that is that the first month of school, the papers don't count for a grade. So you don't have any to make up. We're just doing drills right now, exercising what you learned in kindergarten and trying to find out where you are." She paused. "well, now that we've got that done, Miss Watabe, would you take Miss Ogino to her locker? I think that the two of you might have to share one until I can find an empty one." She handed Rumi a piece of paper - a big sticker - after writing something in big black letters down on it.  
  
"No problem, Sensei," Rumi said. She got up. "follow me, Ogino. I'll tell you all about the social ranks of this here wanna-be school." Chihiro followed her out into the hall while Sensei laughed. She became painfully aware of how Rumi was taller than she was.  
  
"This here," Rumi said, stopping at a locked in the middle of the hall that had a big sticker on it that said 'Watabe Rumi' on it. she took the sticker Sensei had handed her and stuck it on right under her name. It read 'Ogino Chihiro.'  
  
Rumi opened the locker up, and took Chihiro's backpack from her, hanging it up. She then opened it and took out the Kleenex box and all her other things and shoved them in Chihiro's hands, then closed the locker and began talking a mile a minute while they made their way back to the classroom.  
  
"We as first graders don't have to worry about life in a social outlook until we get in third grade; but as first graders, we are still dominant over kindergartners, and if you make friends with a third grader or older student - especially a sixth grader - then you're all gold. The school is so big because they were going to put the seventh, eighth, and ninth graders in this building too, and they are; they're going to move them in in a few days, or so I've gathered."  
  
Sensei was gone.  
  
Rumi marched over to Chihiro's desk and opened it, putting all of her stuff in and organizing it carefully. Then she went back and forth between a book case and put different books and/or paper workbooks in as well before closing it once more. She took Chihiro's Kleenex box and put it on a Kleenex-filled shelf on the other side of the room.  
  
"The kids you want to avoid are the sixth graders all together, some fifth graders, and a few forth graders. The third graders ignore us, and the second graders are in the same boat as we are. Select persons you don't want to meet alone in a dark alleyway is a second grader named Yakuta Hiro and his brother Yakuta Ikki. Their friend is Aida Isao, and the only first grader in their little ring is Yonai Juri. She's a brat, and I feel sorry for you cause you have to sit next to her."  
  
There was a long moment of silence.  
  
"Any questions?"  
  
"...No."  
  
"Why don't you talk or look up?"  
  
"...Because... I'm a very bad girl."  
  
Rumi stared at her. "Excuse me?"  
  
Well, technically it wasn't an order. So Chihiro didn't answer.  
  
"Weird," Rumi said after a while.  
  
"Anyway, avoid the bigger kids, and avoid the Yakuta brothers, Aida, and Yonai. Otherwise, come to me if you have a problem, or my older sister. She's a fifth grader, and her name is Watabe Makoto. We all look the same, you know, bluish white eyes, Black hair? I have an eighth grader sister who's going to be coming with the junior high, and she's Watabe Rei. Rei's hair is about to her waist, though, and it's straight if not a little poofy. Makoto's hair is a little curly, and it comes to her elbows. She's always got it braided into two braids behind her shoulders or in a fluffy- curly pony tail, and she has these professional little glasses. She's very cool looking. I also"  
  
she wrinkled her nose  
  
"-have a twin. Her name is Watabe Minako, but she lives with HER father, so her "Real" NAME is Aino Minako. I recommend you don't play around her. She's in a different first-grade class. She's a terrible baka, so steer clear from her, 'kay? Right. So, now you know who to avoid and who you can ask for help, so... any questions?"  
  
"......... No."  
  
"O... kay..."  
  
Rumi stared at Chihiro, and she sat down at her desk, carefully examining the wood it was made out of. Polished and painted. Pretty. She wished Rumi would stop staring at her.  
  
"Watabe-sama?" she whispered softly. Rumi jumped at being addressed as 'Sama'. She blinked. "Yes, Ogino? And you don't need to call me Watabe- sama. Just Watabe."  
  
"Will you please stop staring at me? I don't want people to stare."  
  
It took Rumi a moment to translate this. "Oh. You're shy. Okay, I understand; I'll make sure nobody stares at you, though it will be difficult."  
  
"...Why?"  
  
"Because, well, quite frankly, uh, you're..." Rumi searched for the right word. "different," she said at last. "and everybody likes to stare at different people."  
  
"Is different bad?"  
  
"No, of course not!"  
  
"...Oh."  
  
The bell rang just as Sensei walked back in. "Oh, Ladies," she said as the halls became loud with shouting kids. "do you understand things a little better, feel more at home, Miss Ogino?"  
  
"Yes Sensei."  
  
The class began filling up, and when the hall finally quieted down, it was another ten minutes before the class calmed down. Another bell rang (Chihiro didn't jump) and Sensei closed the door. "Now," she said. I've got some more drills for you kids, okay? Take one and pass it back. You can talk, too, if you want. Read when you're done."  
  
Immediately, the class began to talk to each other as they got to work on their drills. Chihiro struggled with it, and was just halfway through when Yonai, Juri, leaned over and poked Chihiro slightly in the side with her pencil. Chihiro jumped and winced, almost looking up at the girl.  
  
"Hey," Juri said. "is there something up with your neck? Look up at me already!"  
  
Chihiro didn't say anything, just pulled her knees up and took her drills paper, working on it on her hand. Juri scowled.  
  
"Answer me when I talk to you!"  
  
Chihiro ignored her.  
  
"Ogino, I'm warning you!"  
  
Could nine be subtracted from seven? Should Chihiro switch them around? Her tutor had told her that calculators switched them around.  
  
"Baka!"  
  
Had Juri just said something? Must have been Chihiro's imagination. She gave up on actually working on the problem and guessed; three. When all else fails, put a three.  
  
"Ogino!" Juri reached out and pulled sharply on Chihiro's ponytail. It wasn't enough to hurt, so Chihiro didn't cry out. But she did look up sharply at Juri and throw her feet down. She set her drills worksheet down, never breaking eye contact with Juri. She set her pencil down, focusing shrewdly on the top bridge of Juri's nose, never blinking once or wavering her eye-point. She then slowly, ever so agonizingly slowly, turned around so that she was sitting sideways in her seat. Juri looked severely freaked out and turned her head away. "Whatever," she snapped.  
  
Chihiro looked back down and continued her drills. However, Rumi had seen the whole thing and whooped, thumping Chihiro on the back. Chihiro winced, and leaned forward. It wasn't that easy.  
  
"Go Ogino!" Rumi said. "way to beat Yonai without even moving or saying anything!" those that heard either clapped sarcastically or whistled, then went back to their games. Sensei told the class to calm down, and told Rumi, Juri, and Chihiro not to fight.  
  
So Chihiro had just gotten her drills worksheet done (a lot of the answers were Three... hmm...) and sat down, able to finally focus on if Rumi had reopened any wounds. She had come dangerously close to one.  
  
"Okay, class!" Sensei said, standing up. Everybody grew quiet. "lunch time! Line up quietly, and I'll take you down early!"  
  
There was a mad stampede to get to the door, and after five minutes of shouting, fighting, and everything else like that, the class was lined up. Cautiously, Chihiro stood and joined the line in the very back.  
  
"Be quiet, now," Sensei said as she handed out white cards to each of them. Lunch passes. Chihiro clutched hers to her chest, only just aware of the fact that she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch the day before.  
  
As they marched out into the hall, she examined her feet. They went down stairs to the first floor, and Chihiro was quite worn out when they stopped at two big double-doors that said 'MPR' in big red letters. Sensei pushed them open just as a bell rang, and doors banged open, and all first and second graders ran to line. Chihiro and her class were first, of course.  
  
Five minutes later, almost Chihiro's turn, and another bell rang, sending off all the third and fourth graders, along with the sixth graders.  
  
Finally, Chihiro looked up to an old lady wearing a white cap, apron, and plastic gloves. She handed the white lunch pass to her, and took a tray in return. She was no very, very aware of the fact that she was probably the shortest one in the room. After loading up, she walked out to the room ,and paused. It was very, very, very bog, and had tables and chairs everywhere. Kids who had brought lunches from home were already spread out, and Chihiro suddenly realized she had no one or any place to sit. And it's pretty hard to find a place to sit when holding one's try with one hand and clutching ones shirt tightly in the other, staring at one's feet with no "empty, empty, empty" tables around.  
  
"Hey! Ogino! Over here!" Rumi's voice called, barely over the babble. Chihiro forced herself to look up and to her left, where Rumi sta with another girl at a small round table under a window. Rumi was waving madly to a seat next to her. Relief washed over Chihiro, and she walked quickly over to her, sitting in the beckoned chair.  
  
"Hey, Ogino, welcome to our table!" the girl said. "you must be the new kid Rumi-chan here was telling me about. Until you find a clique of your own, you are more than welcome to sit with us." She extended a hand and shook Chihiro's lightly yet firmly. "and I am certain that Rumi-chan has told you about me, but just in case she hasn't, my name is Watabe Makoto. But you can call me Mako-chan."  
  
Chihiro flushed. The only other person she'd called 'san' or 'chan' was her mother/father. She felt she had to return the favor, somehow.  
  
"You can call me Chihiro," she said softly so that both Rumi and Mako-chan leaned forward to hear her better. "both of you can."  
  
"Chihiro? Very pretty name," Makoto said with a grin. "and you must call Rumi-chan... Rumi-chan. 'kay?"  
  
"Yeah, call me Rumi-chan! 'kay?"  
  
"Okay Rumi-sam - Rumi-chan."  
  
Makoto laughed. "did you almost call Rumi "Rumi-sama"? wow. You must come from a strange background." She laughed again, then dug into some yellowish goop as did Rumi. Chihiro stared at hers and wondered if she was really desperate enough to eat this stuff. Then she realized something - Rumi and Makoto might be her friends! Maybe she could stay the week at their house! But those thoughts didn't stop her from being hungry.  
  
Makoto looked up. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked. silently, Chihiro nodded, still keeping her head bowed.  
  
"Oh, I understand. First day nerves. Don't worry, food will help! Eat up!" she looked across the room and waved a hand. "Hey, Mina-chan! Come on over!"  
  
a girl came over and sat next to Chihiro. She looked exactly like Rumi, except her hair was longer and put into a pony tail at her neck. Also, her eyes weren't crystal-blue flecked, they were more just regular blue. This was hardly noticeable. This must have been Minako Aino, Rumi's twin sister.  
  
"Hey, Mina, it's been a while! How're ya doing little sister?" asked Makoto.  
  
"Oh, it's been hectic, with step-mother and all. She and our father are THE most modestly challenged couple on the face of this planet! say, how's mom and Rei-chan doing? It really has been too long."  
  
"I'm happy for your step-mother and father," Rumi said coldly. "our *real* mother went into labor last night, and our step-father is with her. Rei- chan is watching Mako-chan and I."  
  
"Hey, she's YOUR step-mother too!" Minako snapped. "Rumi, why do you hate me so much for wanting to live with daddy?"  
  
"I don't hate you." Rumi replied, her tone now icy. Not wanting to interrupt, but beginning to get scared from Rumi's tone of voice, Chihiro coughed a little.  
  
"My momma's gonna have a baby, too," she said softly.  
  
"Oh really?" asked Rumi brightly.  
  
"Congratulations," Minako told her.  
  
"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Makoto asked.  
  
Chihiro shook her head, startled from all the attention she was getting. "No, she hasn't told us. Wants it to be a surprise. She's," Chihiro paused. "she's in the hospital, too, with my daddy. They're gonna be there the rest of the week."  
  
"The rest of the week?" Minako asked.  
  
Chihiro nodded. "My daddy said it was something like a miscarriage, but not to worry. So I won't."  
  
"What's a miscarriage?" Rumi asked.  
  
"Ditto," Minako put in.  
  
"Nothing you need to worry about," Makoto broke in. her voice held a note of sympathy.  
  
Chihiro took a deep breath, realizing that this would be her only chance.  
  
"My brother, Hiroshi, is taking care of me," she said, rising her voice a little bit. She was quaking slightly at what she was about to say - if they rejected her, then Hiroshi would most definitely find out, and he would kill her for sure. "and he's really very busy and stressed out all of the time. He... I do not think that he... um... likes me very much." She glanced up quickly, then went back to examining the many colors of her glob. "No," she whispered. What was she doing? Just because she called them Rumi-chan and Mako-chan didn't mean that they were her friends. She grabbed her tray.  
  
"Never mind," she said, and took off.  
  
"Wait, Chihiro!" Rumi called.  
  
"Leave her be," Makoto ordered.  
  
"Who was that?" Minako asked.  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Rumi.  
  
Chihiro dumped her tray, and wandered out into the halls. She knew she was supposed to go outside, but she didn't want to face so many kids. So she went back up to her classroom, not getting lost, surprisingly. Sensei was there, with a steaming mug on her desk. She looked up and smiled at Chihiro as she walked in.  
  
"Miss Ogino! Why aren't you outside? did you eat lunch?"  
  
Chihiro shook her head, sitting at her seat gingerly.  
  
"Are you feeling well? Aren't you hungry?"  
  
Chihiro nodded, then shook her head.  
  
"You must be hungry. In all of my years as an experience as a first-grade teacher, I've noticed that all first graders could eat a horse any time any day." She stood and took a small package out of her purse. Chihiro focused on her hands, folded on her desk. She noticed a dark bruise on her wrist, and a lighter one on her other. In fact, the darker bruised one went all the way up her arm. Chihiro yanked the sleeves of her shirt down and twisted her fingers in the bottom of her shirt, biting her lip.  
  
Back to staring at her desk.  
  
She jumped when she felt Sensei's presence above her, and looked up quickly before looking down again. Was she in trouble? "Miss Ogino, you do seem a bit jumpy," Sensei said.  
  
"Please, Sensei, call me Chihiro," Chihiro whispered. Sensei seemed a bit surprised at this. "Chihiro," she said. "well, thank you, I guess I will. Here, eat this. I understand if the sight of the cafeteria food makes you sick." She gently tipped Chihiro's chin up a little bit and took one of her hands, placing a rice ball in it, then taking her other hand and placing a dumpling in it.  
  
"I know they aren't exactly kings' food, but I've been surviving on them, so I guess they won't kill you. go on, eat them." She smiled kindly, warmly. "I'd share my coffee with you too, but I think it might make you a bit too hyper." Chihiro smiled a little back, but caught herself, and quickly looked down again. After staring at the foods in her hands for a moment, hunger finally won over, and she devoured the rice ball first, then the dumpling.  
  
"My, you were hungry," Sensei noted. "have you been starving yourself? When was the last time you ate?"  
  
"Lunch yesterday," Chihiro murmured, realizing that her shirt sleeves were a bit too short. She twisted her fingers in the bottom of her shirt again.  
  
"Why? Didn't you eat dinner or breakfast?"  
  
Chihiro shook her head.  
  
"Why not? What were you doing last night?"  
  
"Sleeping," Chihiro answered truthfully. No way was anybody going to find out about her and Hiroshi.  
  
"What were you doing this morning?"  
  
"sleeping." Ah! Inspiration for a lie! "I never woke up from my nap the other day and I slept in this morning. That's why I was late." inwardly, Chihiro gave herself a pat on the back. Nobody could lie as smoothly as her!  
  
"Oh. You must have been tired."  
  
"I was."  
  
"Why? Did you stay up the night before?"  
  
Chihiro suddenly thought of something and sat up straight in her chair, shivering fearfully. "Are you," she squeaked in the tiniest of vooices, cleared her throat, then continued in her tiny, quiet voice, "are you playing the game with me?"  
  
"the game? What's that?" Sensei asked, shocking at the change of subject. "how do you play?"  
  
"You ask a question and I answer the right way," Chihiro answered. Dur. Didn't this woman know anything?  
  
"What if you answer the wrong way?"  
  
"Then I get punished."  
  
"Punished?!?" Sensei leapt to her feet, then sat down on Chihiro's desk. "I mean, punished," she said blandly. "Have you played this game often?"  
  
"Oh yes."  
  
"Do you answer the right way?"  
  
"Not at first. but now I know all of the answers."  
  
"You play with the same answers?"  
  
"Mostly the same. See," Chihiro froze, then looked up. "you don't know how to play the game?"  
  
"Chihiro," she said, reaching out and gently cupping Chihiro's cheek. "in games, you're not supposed to get punished if you lose."  
  
"You're not?"  
  
"No. that's bad."  
  
"Bad?"  
  
"Yes. Bad."  
  
"Then... what do you do if you lose?"  
  
"You go home with a lesson learned." Sensei paused and frowned at Chihiro, who quickly ducked her head again. "what kind of punishment?" she asked. Chihiro shrugged slightly, scared of her growing tone.  
  
"Just... nothing bad," she murmured.  
  
"How bad?"  
  
"Not bad."  
  
"Painful?"  
  
"......... Uh," how was she supposed to answer that? "No. of course not."  
  
"Do the punishments leave marks?"  
  
Chihiro buried her hands deeper into her shirt. "Sometimes."  
  
"What kind of marks? Red ones? Purple, blue, black ones?"  
  
"...Sometimes."  
  
"Do the marks hurt?"  
  
Trick QUESTION! Chihiro had been ready for that. "No." she lied.  
  
"Are you lying?"  
  
"No." she lied. She paused. "Why are you so interested? It's not like my family abuses me or anything." Chihiro thought after that.  
  
Abuse? Was Hiroshi abusing her? She thought back, casting about her mind for an explanation. Finally, she found one. No. she was a bad girl.  
  
The bell rang, and the halls filled, and the class room filled. "Thank you, Sensei," Chihiro whispered as she went back to the front of the class.  
  
Chihiro managed to keep quiet the rest of the day, and avoid all others. When Hiroshi picked her up, he had her change back to her other clothes, then dropped her off at the house with just a little verbal communications. Immediately, Chihiro set off for the forest.  
  
She needed her friends.  
  
Her best friend.  
  
Kohaku River.  
  
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A/N: okay, I'm not sure if that's good or not. *Scratches head* heh. Oh well. 


	3. A Sister For A Mother

DISCLAIMER: I don't own.  
  
Chapter Started: 5/1/03 Chapter Finished: 5/3/03  
  
A/N: Holy Cheetos, Batman! Reviews! *Squashes reviewers in hug* Thank You! okay, Hiroshi is a bastaaaaaaaaaaard, okay? Okay! Trust me - and I know I shouldn't be giving this away right now, but - Haku WILL kick his butt! Two four six eight, who do we appreciate??? Haku! Haku! HAKU WILL BE MAKING AN APPEARANCE!!!!!!!!! *gasp, pant, heave* and, yes, Hiroshi does get a bit... "distressed" in this chappy. I know, I'm like - all freaked up about child abuse, and I'm gonna be a social worker when I grow up. Pathetic. My seventh grade health teacher preached about Meth and children for a week, and it's still affecting me. I think that's why I'm so into these hurt- Chihiro-Haku-saves-the-day ficlets. That's pathetic, too.  
  
Am I pathetic or what?  
  
Okay, okay. I was halfway through this chapter (Chappy 3) when I was hit with Writers' Block, so I got up to get something to eat. And, being the moron that I am, I didn't save ONCE! And I have a little furry beast that came and I don't know what he hit, but it rebooted my computer. Aargh, so I have to rewrite this Chappy and it'll be posted a bit late. *sweatdrop* also, I changed one thing in the last chap: Chihiro's birthday is in one more week, not five months. =^_^= I'm not about to write five months' worth of boring chapters just to get to her birthday, ya? The major AU as in MAJOR TOTALLY AU THAT IT ALMOST ISN'T FUNNY I will warn you about. You'll have to forgive me, I know you won't like it. but hey, there's nothing wrong with giving Chihiro mental powers then having some moron psychiatrist ruin them, ya? So there's nothing wrong with an AU.  
  
Ten minutes after the last chap  
  
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"Guess what?" Chihiro demanded, taking off her shoes so that she could splash her feet happily in the river. "I think that I might have made some friends!" smiling, she held her shoes to her chest and walked downstream a little, where the rapids really hit. The stones went all the way across, so she could get to the other side. but first she took her hair out, unbraiding it so that it fell in crimps around her jaw and cheeks.  
  
Chihiro began her journey across, being careful of the slippery stones. Right in the middle, she slipped a little and dropped a shoe. It went down to another rock not to far downstream, and bobbed there, held up on some green weed stuff growing on the rock.  
  
"Oh, poo," Chihiro said, and flung her other shoe to the other side. then she put one foot on one rock, then the other on a different rock so that she was close to doing the splits, and she leaned out, balancing herself by placing her fingers on a smaller rock in front of the one that held her shoe. Biting her tongue, Chihiro leaned out as far as she dared, reaching to touch her pink shoe. . . abruptly she slipped with a scream, and knocked her shoe out. She watched it go down the stream before her head ducked under the water, and she was pulled into the rapids. Her back knocked against something hard, and she made a sound, and water poured into her mouth and nose, flooding her stomach.  
  
She was sinking. And Chihiro knew she'd drown.  
  
She wasn't even scared. 'so this is how it all ends - not so painful. . .' she thought, opening her eyes wide. Her fingers closed around a things hard - horns? And her clothe-less body bumped onto something silky, wet, and her thighs automatically closed around it. she peered ahead, and saw the nose of her rescuer... a dragon? Was she dreaming? Was she dead?  
  
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she was laying face- first in shallow water. Coughing, Chihiro sat up immediately, and saw she was on the side she had started on, except further downstream. She choked again, then threw up, quaking all over. Her clothes clung to her, and she shivered in the wind.  
  
She looked over her shoulder. "Kohaku?" she asked softly. She spotted her shoe that she had thrown on the other bank, way upstream, a tiny pink dot.  
  
She realized she wasn't dead, fully, completely realized it. it had been so peaceful. . . Chihiro began to cry. She beat the ground with her little fists, and just cried harder. "Why, why, why, why ,WHY, WHY?!?" She demanded. She looked around, jumped to her feet, and ignoring her lightheadedness, she ran to the nearest tree and pummeled it. more tears fell with each hit, partly from the pain that was being inflicted on her hands and partly out of pain because she would have to continue living.  
  
She screamed at the tree, and at an invisible Hiroshi, and an invisible Kimiko, and invisible parents. She cursed the world and everything in it, using language a bit dirty for a young lady.  
  
Finally, Chihiro collapsed, sporting her bruised and bleeding knuckles, putting her forehead against the tree, sobbing harder then ever. After a while, she drowsily apologized to the tree, to her invisible parents, to the world and everything in it, and carefully picked the slivers out of her knuckles. Once that was done, she drowsily crawled to the Kohaku River and placed her hands in, washing the blood away. they hurt, but her physical pain would never compare with her emotional turmoil.  
  
"Kohaku," she whispered. "I want to live. . . but I want to die, too. What am I going to do?" a bird dove into the water, creating a splash, and escaped with a fish, splashing Chihiro's damp face. She wiped the water and her tears away. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. "I've just been really stupid, and really bad." She sighed. "I'm sorry," she repeated for the third time, "for being mean to you all, especially you, Kohaku. I- I guess I'd better go and get home. It's getting dark, and I don't want to piss Hiroshi off any more than I should."  
  
She got to her feet, still lightheaded, still drowsy, and made her way out. She was barefoot, and didn't want to bother with trying to get her not-lost shoe. Hiroshi would love it - her feet all bloody from walking on the rocks and stuff (they were already stinging painfully and red was leaving little spots), tired, worn out, and lightheaded. She wouldn't even be able to squirm, and he'd be delighted to get her in trouble for this, then play the game with her, then punish her.  
  
He always did. More excuses meant lesser punishments, though.  
  
So Chihiro trekked home. By the time she opened the door, her hair was frazzled out, her feet really were bleeding and hurting like hel, and she was even more tired then before. She hoped she would be able to wash out her mouth first before Hiroshi caught her.  
  
He wasn't home. Walking carefully on her knees and elbows, Chihiro got upstairs and washed her hands and feet thoroughly. Then she brushed her hair, and having learned how to not too long ago, she French-braided it down the left and right side of her head. Hiroshi would have a harder time pulling it, then.  
  
With a sigh, she washed her face again, then changed her clothes, put on a pair of socks, then went downstairs.  
  
She was sitting on the couch hunched up and almost asleep when Hiroshi finally returned. He found Chihiro immediately, and his face contorted into a sneer.  
  
"Konicheewa imouto," he said sweetly. Chihiro stumbled to her feet and bowed.  
  
Hiroshi's hands snapped out and she was lifted painfully by her wrists and thrown on her stomach on the ground.  
  
"Your Sensei spoke to me about the game, Chihiro-chan," he hissed in her ear, placing a knee forcefully on her back. "she wanted to know if you were being abused. Do you know what I told her?"  
  
"... N- No, Hiroshi-sama," Chihiro whispered, voice muffled by the carpet.  
  
"I told her the game was just a way to teach you your ABC's when you were littler, and that your tutor gave you a treat if you did it right and she scolded you if you got it wrong. Your Sensei fell for it." he forcefully turned Chihiro's head, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. "did you really think it would be that easy, imouto? That some social worker would come and save you by taking me away to jail? Guess what: it's not that easy. Nobody will believe you, should you tell them. And you're just going to be punished even harder with each word you utter in public." He flipped her over onto her back, and Chihiro whimpered.  
  
"I know you spoke, and I'm going to guess you said two hundred words all together. But since I'm feeling nice, I'll only consider it one hundred. So your mouth will have to be punished one hundred times for each word; and your mind will have to be punished......... five times, hard, for thinking of speaking; and you, Chihiro Ogino, will be punished three times harder for making me late and speaking to that rotten btich, and for talking back." He picked her up by her bruised wrists and arms, and threw her onto the kitchen floor, which wasn't carpeted.  
  
He grabbed her head and slammed his knee down on her chest, effectively knocking the air from her rib cage. He closed his fingers firmly around her forehead, digging his finger nails into her temples enough to bring blood, and banged her head down on the floor. Chihiro squawked and cried out, tears flowing. "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai onii-sama!" she wailed out as he slammed her head down again. "I won't ever speak without your permission again, I promise! Gomen, gomen!" he slammed it down again, bringing blood this time. Chihiro's eyesight went blurred for a second, and she saw double. "Please, PLEASE onii-sama, Hiroshi-sama, stop, please! I am a bad girl BAD girl! Gomen nasai, I am sorry, I am sorry!" she shrieked as he brought it down again. "I WILL NEVER SPEAK AGAIN, GOMEN NASAI, GOMAN NASAI!" She screamed, sobbing harder then ever, and everything went distorted as he brought her head down for the final and fifth time. Chihiro sobbed and writhed beneath him, and he allowed her to reach up and clutch the back of her head, hair matted with blood.  
  
"I told you that your head would be punished five times," he said sweetly. "and now it's time to punish your mouth, one hundred times."  
  
"NO!" Chihiro sobbed, wishing that darkness would just take her. Hiroshi's knee temporarily left her chest, but she only curled into a ball from the pain, clutching her head. Why was she still alive? Last time her had done this, she had passed into blackness the third time! Why wouldn't she die? Why wouldn't she die? Why wouldn't she die?  
  
"SHUT UP," Hiroshi called, and flattened her body. He slammed his knee into her rib cage once more, knocking the air out of her once more. But he let her keep her fingers around her head in pain. Inwardly, Hiroshi was impressed she wasn't in shock yet.  
  
Forcing her jaw open, Hiroshi slammed a bar of soap in.  
  
Chihiro choked, and tried to get it out, but it wouldn't budge. It tasted awful, and she had the strangest feeling to throw up. He forced it in so far that her jaw ached and she choked, unable to swallow.  
  
Then it began. First he smacked her cheeks, counting out loud for her.  
  
Each cheek was hit ten times each before Hiroshi yanked her arms down, then resumed. Fifteen more times, then sixteenth hit was to her chin.  
  
Chihiro was screaming by now, tears coursing down in endless rivers, jaw aching terribly, still unable to swallow. "Sixty-four more to go," he murmured, a sick sense of joy in his voice. Chihiro cried harder.  
  
He ripped the soap out, and Chihiro choked, coughed, then swallowed before coughing and spitting.  
  
"Ready?" before Chihiro had a chance to do anything else, he was hitting her face again, and again, and again, and again. She was well aware that we was only hitting hard enough to leave a red mark each time, but all of those red marks together were going to make some pretty big bruises. He began counting, over Chihiro's screams, once more.  
  
"Fifty-six, fifty-seven-fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one, sixty- two, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five!" it continued like this, all the way to eighty-five. Then he stopped for a rest again, and Chihiro searched in vain for a way to make him stop.  
  
"You'll kill me!" she cried. "any more and you'll kill me!"  
  
Great idea, Chihiro. Have you forgotten he WANTS you dead?  
  
"Please, Onii-sama, please stop," she whispered. To her shock, he did.  
  
Or maybe it was the ringing phone.  
  
Chihiro wasted no time in struggling to her feet, and stumbling slowly away for the kitchen counter. She climbed the drawers just like she used to when she was little, and stopped to rest and cry at the window. She choked and forced herself to calm down, though, when she heard something.  
  
Hiroshi.  
  
"W- wait a second, dad. This is - this is j- just a joke, r- right?" Chihiro heard the distress in her voice, and she felt a sick sense of satisfaction. She was only a little unhappy at herself for this. "n- no. okay." His voice broke completely. "w- we'll be there. B- bye."  
  
Chihiro tried to reassemble herself and open the window, but Hiroshi was already in there. He looked like he was trying not to cry.  
  
And, oh god, Chihiro thought. She wanted to hate him, so much. She wanted to hate Hiroshi beyond all belief and watch him die, but she found herself wondering how to comfort him as he carried her into the bathroom and cleaned her up.  
  
"What happened?" she whispered after a while.  
  
"M- mom," Hiroshi said, and his voice broke again. Chihiro could see tears in his eyes.  
  
'good!' she thought. 'I hope he dies in misery! His deserves it, he deserves it!' she reached up and wiped a lone tear away. 'STOP IT CHIHIRO, HE DESERVES TO SUFFER!' now Chihiro wanted to hate herself, too.  
  
He redressed her, cleaned her up, then carried her out to his car. She immediately passed out in the back seat.  
  
.  
  
When she woke up again, she was laying in a white bed. A doctor - as far as she could see - was there, but that was it.  
  
"E- escuse me?" she asked softly, trying to sit up. But pain wracked her entire body and she fell back down with a squeak, tears beginning to fall.  
  
"Be careful, Ogino," the doctor said, scurrying over.  
  
"Where am I?" Chihiro asked after she was coherent and the pain was just a soreness.  
  
"The hospital. You look like you've taken a pretty bad beating - almost lost you."  
  
"Where's my momma and daddy?"  
  
"Mr. Ogino is with your brother, and they are with your mother. I would really like you to see her, Lord knows that you need to, deserve to, but I can't unless you get hurt any more."  
  
"Why can't they come here?"  
  
He sighed. "Miss Ogino, this may be hard for you to take... your mother is very, very ill, and has a baby girl - HAD - a baby girl in her tummy. But something has gone terribly, terribly wrong, and she's had your sister early. She was given a private choice; herself or her baby. She chose her baby, and right now, she is," he paused. "she is dying."  
  
Chihiro looked up at him. "No she isn't," she said bluntly. "and if I can't see my family, can I see my baby sister? What did momma and daddy name her? Is she sleeping? What does she look like?"  
  
The doctor sigh. "I don't think you're grasping how serious this is. Your baby sister's name is Hikari. I think, at least. She is fine - looks just like you, I imagine. We believe that SHE will pull through the night. But your mother is *dying* and even though we are doing everything we can, we," he sighed. "won't be able to keep her alive in time for the nearest hospital to ship some blood that has her same blood type. That's hard to explain - the fact is, we do not think that she will survive."  
  
"Yes, momma will survive," Chihiro explained, unsure as to why the doctor was looking more and more distressed every time she said something. Was she saying something bad? "Momma had me and momma had Hiroshi, so momma had Hikari and momma is still alive."  
  
"But your mother won't be alive for LONG!" the doctor said. "she is going to be DEAD soon!"  
  
Chihiro stared at him.  
  
"Can I see her?" she'd have to show him that Yuuko was still alive.  
  
He sighed heavily again. "sure," he said at last. What he really wanted to know was how Chihiro had gotten beat up so badly. But he used a board to transport her to a moveable bed, and pushed her out of the room and down to the end of the hall, then the first floor, and took her to a room.  
  
Inside, Akio was sitting by a bed, smoothing the blankets needlessly, tears in his eyes, and Hiroshi was holding Yuuko's hand. Yuuko looked half asleep, and was trying to say something, but Akio was shushing her.  
  
"Momma!" Chihiro said as the doctor wheeled her bed next to Yuuko's. after a few words with Akio, she was lifted with a board again and got to lay next to Yuuko. The many things in her mother's body and how weak and strained she looked scared Chihiro, and she wrapped her arms around Yuuko as best she could, feeling how frail her mother was.  
  
"Momma, what happened to you?" she whispered as Yuuko tried to brush her daughter's hair but just lay her hand on Chihiro's head.  
  
"Sweetheart, you look like you fell down a cliff," she said in a cracked, weak voice.  
  
"No, I fell down the stairs at school. Three stories! That's why I'm in the hospital here with you." she replied, trying to sound happy but failing miserably. "what happened to you?"  
  
"I'm okay, honey," Yuuko said softly. "where's Hikari?"  
  
"The doctors have her," Akio said, smoothing the blankets again. "they think that she'll pull through the night - she survived the day, right?"  
  
"Mmm," Yuuko sighed.  
  
"Go to sleep, Mom," Hiroshi said. "we'll stay here with you. and when you wake up, you'll be all better," his voice broke. "and we can all go home and be a family again." Chihiro buried her face in Yuuko's hair, or where it should have been.  
  
"Momma, your hair got cut!" she cried. "it's so short!"  
  
"I know honey," Yuuko mumbled. "I'm sorry I'm so weak and tired right now. How did your first day of school go?"  
  
"It was good," Chihiro squeaked. Yuuko closed her eyes.  
  
"Sleep, "Akio told her. "I love her, Yuuko," he continued softly.  
  
"I love you, mom," Hiroshi added.  
  
Chihiro hugged Yuuko closer. "I love you, mommy, lots and lots, so you have ta wake up cause the doctor said your gonna die but you're NOT your not gonna die, momma, you're gonna wake up, okay, everything is gonna be okay, and we can take Hikari home, and she can sleep in my room if she bothers you, momma," she broke down and cried as Yuuko closed her eyes. "no, mommy," she cried. "don't go to sleep! You might not wake up, so you hafta not go to sleep!"  
  
"Why did you choose Hikari over us?" Hiroshi asked quietly. "you could be in better shape than this, mom."  
  
"Don't worry, it's just a little nap," Yuuko whispered. "tale good care of Hikari-chan, she's only a baby. I couldn't end her life, never, I love you all. Why are you so frantic?" her voice faded off. "it's just a nap..."  
  
"Will she make it through the night?" Akio demanded, taking Yuuko's hand. He ran a finger over the tape and needles covering her skin, and listened to the bleeping of the heart monitor, not wanting to take his eyes off his wife, but wanting to make sure the screen wouldn't go into a sharp wine.  
  
"we don't think she will," the doctor said quietly. "I'm sorry."  
  
"NO! there is a difference between 'think' and 'know' Doc, you have to save her, do something!"  
  
"There is NOTHING more we can do until we get the blood from the nearest hospital that has it! none of you have her same blood type, and all other patents here are wounded! Now, I ran a blood test on Miss Ogino Chihiro, and she has the same, but look at her! Neither would survive."  
  
"I can help?" Chihiro asked. "I wanna make momma better!"  
  
"You can't," the doctor started, but Hiroshi broke. "Yes she can! She's got blood, and plenty of it!"  
  
"She is too young! She is wounded! Now, maybe is she was a few years older and not so worn and hadn't lost so much blood already, then, maybe, there might have been a chance! And what happened to her?"  
  
"She fell down the stairs at her school, and passed out in the car, you heard her!" Hiroshi shouted. "dad, tell him! Chihiro can save mom!"  
  
Akio didn't say anything. He covered his face in his hands and groaned. "I don't know what to do," he moaned.  
  
"JUST SIGN SOME FRIGGING PAPERS!" Chihiro's brother cried. "DAD, JUST SIGN SOME FREAKING PAPERS AND CHIHIRO CAN SAVE MOM!"  
  
"Now just WAIT A SECOND!" The doctor broke. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that!"  
  
Hiroshi looked at his little sister. "This is all your fault!" he shouted, beginning to cry angrily.  
  
"Now, she didn't do anything!" Mr. Doctor broke in.  
  
"That's right - this is all Hikari's fault!"  
  
"What did the newborn baby do?" the doctor challenged back.  
  
"STOP IT!" Chihiro shrieked. "I wanna help mommy, I wanna help mommy!"  
  
"You are too young and too hurt," the doctor said, trying to remain calm for the little girl's sake. "and it would not last long. One can only give so much blood, especially as a child at a young age. You can not, I am very sorry."  
  
"What about Hikari?" Hiroshi exploded. "what's her blood type?"  
  
"We don't know that yet. At least, I don't."  
  
"Then find out! She can do it!"  
  
"Hikari is a newborn baby! She could NOT donate any of her blood, no! do you WANT her dead?"  
  
"THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!!!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Akio roared, and everybody looked at him. "you'll wake her up," he continued shakily. "Hiroshi, just accept it. by the time this god forsaken hospital gets the blood they have so CONVENIANTLY run out of, your mother will be dead, and that's that. Go... go do some homework or something. Go to school."  
  
"Dad, how can you just sit there! I'll drive to the next hospital and get it myself!"  
  
"The mail would be faster," Akio said.  
  
Chihiro shook her head. She took a deep breath and sat up, hugging Yuuko's hand to her for a moment. She wanted more than anything to help Yuuko, and she had the potential to. "I want to save momma," she said quietly, then, in a louder voice, "I want to see my sister."  
  
The doctor pushed a buzzer, and a couple of nurses came running in.  
  
"Take this girl to the nursery," the doctor told one of them, handing a clipboard to the other. "her baby sister is Ogino Hikari."  
  
"Yes, doctor," the nurse said, then her eyebrows shot up when she looked at Chihiro.  
  
"are you sure that is wise?" she asked. "the girl looks to be in terrible physical state..."  
  
"She isn't bleeding internally or anywhere else any more, and the antibiotics are taking affect. Her mother," he added, jerking his head to Yuuko. The nurse understood immediately and picked Chihiro up.  
  
"So you're Ogino?" she asked, walking out and down the hall to an elevator. Fifth floor. "what happened to you?"  
  
"I fell down the stairs," Chihiro explained flatly, wondering how the fact that this nurse had a bust the size of Tokyo was possible. "don't you think your shirt is a little too tight?"  
  
she laughed as they walked into the room. She set Chihiro down and went to a window, talking through it to an old woman.  
  
"Chihiro?" asked an incredulous voice. Chihiro looked up quickly, and her jaw dropped momentarily when she saw Rumi, Makoto, Minako, two men and a woman, and a girl that must have been Rei.  
  
Then, remembering before she passed out in the car, she looked down again.  
  
"Hi Mako-chan, Rumi-chan," she muttered.  
  
"Oh yes, and this is Mina-chan - you didn't get to meet her properly, and this is our older sister Rei-chan. That man there is our real father, and that man THERE is our step-father, and that is our step-mother." She got up from where she was sitting and pushed her head up. "you've been crying, and you look terrible," she announced.  
  
"What happened?" Makoto asked, kneeling in front of her.  
  
"I fell down the stairs."  
  
"Ouch," Minako put in. "I did that once, and I didn't look a thing like you."  
  
"Well, I fell down a lotta stairs." Chihiro took a deep breath. "what are you doing here?"  
  
"Seeing our new baby brother," Mako-chan said. "what are YOU doing here? Looks like you need to be in the Code Blue ward, or whatever they call it."  
  
"Stop crowding her," Rei cut in. "hi, I'm Rei. You must be the Ogino girl I've heard so much about. My name is Rei - and you must call me Rei-chan, of course."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Miss Ogino? Are you ready to see your sister now?"  
  
"Oh, yeah," Chihiro said. "I gotta go, guys." She ran over to the nurse, who bent down and murmured, "she isn't here like I thought she'd be - she's in a different place. in the same hallway as your mother, in fact."  
  
"Oh. Okay. Can I see her, then?"  
  
the nurse bit her lip. "I'm not sure. We'll go see if you can, okay? They usually make it so that young children can't come in rooms like those."  
  
"Okay. Let's go." The nurse picked her up, flashed a toothy smile at Rumi and Co., then took Chihiro back to the floor they had started on, and down a hall.  
  
They entered a room that had two doctors in it already, and they were crouched quietly over what looked like a plastic see-through box.  
  
"Excuse me, doctors?" the nurse asked. "Can we see Ogino Hikari?"  
  
One of them looked up and came over.  
  
"Not the girl," she said.  
  
"But this is Ogino's older sister. She's not allowed to see her mother, you know."  
  
The doctor sighed.  
  
"A small look," she said. "I think that she will make it through the night. She has a much higher chance of living now," the nurse carried Chihiro over to the plastic see-through box.  
  
Chihiro gasped.  
  
There was her new baby sister, laying there on her back, in just a diaper. A piece of tape held some needles poked in her skin, and a heart monitor gave off a steady bleep.  
  
"Is this Hikari?" Chihiro asked. the doctors and nurse nodded.  
  
"Yes. This is your sister."  
  
"She's so small! Can I give her a hug? I think she needs a hug."  
  
"No, I'm sorry. If you gave her a hug right now, it might hurt her really, really bad. If you wash your hands, you can hold hers, though, if you like."  
  
"I want to!" Chihiro washed her hands, then they let her reach in and stroke the skin along Hikari's arm before poking a finger into her tiny palm.  
  
"So little," she breathed. "Are all babies this little?"  
  
"No, Miss Ogino, they aren't supposed to be."  
  
"So why is Hikari so short?"  
  
"She was born prematurely, dear. She wasn't supposed to come out of your mother's tummy for another month."  
  
"Is that why she and my momma are so sick?"  
  
"Yes, among others."  
  
Hikari made a little sound and stirred a little bit.  
  
"You have a very beautiful sister, Miss Ogino."  
  
"I know."  
  
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A/N: Rei, Minako, and Makoto are all from Sailor Moon, so I'll have the next chap posted later tonight. Just hang around! =^_^= poor Yuuko and Hikari and Akio and Chihiro. I'm still toying with the idea of feeling sorry for Hiroshi, but I don't think I do. He's such a no-good little moron. And poor, poor, poor Chihiro. I GUARANTEE you that she's got it harder from here on in. but so does Hikari.  
  
I know EXACTLY how Chihiro and Haku are going to meet, so never you worry! And Haku will save the day.  
  
Pathetic. Haku always saves the day in my ficlets.  
  
ANYHOOT, it'll still be a while. I'm going to make my chaps longer or shorter, and I'm going to make a couple of minor time jumps (i.e. the next day... that night... the week passed in a blur...) etc., etc., you get my point. I'm practically quivering with excitement for that fateful scene when Haku and Chihiro meet! *giggles nervously* but I have to warn you ahead of time: AU. As in, this is AU AUTHOR'S UNIVERSE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE whatever you want to call it, THIS IS AU. So, knowing that, you'll understand my motives behind Haku and Chihiro. Okay? Okay.  
  
Next chap soon. Literally. I can't believe I said that whole stupid double- post thing. Just stick around tonight. 


	4. Premonition

A/N: whew. I hafta work on this one fast. *pouts* no potty breaks. Drat.  
  
Disclaimer: no own, ya?  
  
After the Last Chapter(Dur).  
  
Third Person POV  
  
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Chihiro spent that night in the hospital, and wasn't allowed ANYWHERE the next day, not even for school like Hiroshi or to see Yuuko like Akio.  
  
After threatening to throw the heart monitor out the window, though, she was allowed to see Hikari, who "was doing better".  
  
"It's just you and my, Kari old girl," Chihiro told her, liking how her sister's hand was so small she could fit her finger easily in it. "and did you know that you have the biggest most beautiful eyes I've ever seen?"  
  
Later that day, when Hiroshi came, both he and Akio were forced to leave. Chihiro had to spend the night there again.  
  
The next day, she was allowed to get dressed properly, and go see Hikari again after lunch. This time, instead of just opening her eyes momentarily, she was now staring wide-eyed about her, trying to stare at everything without moving her body. She got a look on her face when she saw Chihiro, and even squeezed her finger back.  
  
But when Chihiro asked to see Yuuko, she was denied.  
  
Akio nor Hiroshi came to take her to school or home, so she wandered around a bit, then went back to see Hikari. She loved her sister already.  
  
Finally, when she was headed back to her room to see if she could spend the night again, sitting down on her bed.  
  
***the doctor found her. He looked very grim.  
  
"Miss Ogino, I'm afraid I have some terrible, terrible news for you. you may want to sit down." He sat a curious Chihiro in a chair and sighed, kneeling in front of her and laying both hands on her shoulders. "Yuuko Ogino has... passed away," he said at last.  
  
Chihiro stared at him. "passed away?"  
  
"I'm very sorry."  
  
"Why? What's 'passed away' mean?"  
  
he sighed. "Your mother is dead." He said bluntly.  
  
It took a while for this to sink in.  
  
"Momma is dead?"  
  
"Yes. I'm very, very sorry, Miss Ogino."  
  
"Momma is dead?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Chihiro shook her head disbelievingly. "No she isn't. momma isn't dead, not my momma."  
  
"No, Miss Ogino, she is."  
  
"No, Baka, she isn't," Chihiro said, becoming angry. "and I'll prove it to you."  
  
"You can't see her, I am sorry, Miss Ogino."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Now, calm down..."  
  
Chihiro began to breathe, faster, so that her heart ached in her chest. She backed away from the doctor, bumping into the doorway. "No." she whispered.  
  
"Ogino," he started, but Chihiro turned and bolted with a tear-choked "NOOOO!!!"  
  
"MISS OGINO!" the doctor shouted after her.  
  
She ran at top speed to her mother's room ,where doctors and nurses and Akio and Hiroshi were. She tried to bolt through them, but a doctor and a nurse each grabbed her and held her back.  
  
"No," they said. "you can't see her. She and Hikari are dead."  
  
"NO!" Chihiro screamed, crying, sobbing, struggling. Finally, she kicked her way free and got into the room, where Yuuko lay... ***  
  
"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Chihiro screamed at the top of her lungs, sitting bolt upright, looking around wildly. A couple of nurses and a doctor ran in to find the problem, clicking on the light. All they found was a heavily breathing Chihiro, sweaty and tear strained. They relaxed.  
  
"Oh, Miss Ogino, you must have had a bad dream," the doctor said. "it's okay, it's okay. You're safe here."  
  
"Can I see Hikari?" Chihiro choked, "p- please?"  
  
they glanced at each other.  
  
"She's probably sleeping."  
  
"I just want to see Hikari and my momma!"  
  
"Shh, it was just a bad dream,"  
  
"I want to see them!"  
  
"Okay, okay, quiet down, now,"  
  
she was taken to Hikari's ward, and she breathed a small sigh of relief when she heard Hikari's heart monitor and felt her warm skin.  
  
"I want to see my momma."  
  
Yuuko was sleeping, a bit fitfully. Two doctors and a nurse and Akio sat dowsing in chairs. Her heart monitor was going much slower than Hikari's. finally, Chihiro relaxed completely when she felt her mother's warm skin.  
  
Back in her room, the two nurses and doctor tucked her in after giving her a glass of water and a cookie.  
  
When Chihiro fell asleep again, she had no more dreams.  
  
But when she woke up, the doctor was there with a grim look on his face.  
  
Hikari was alive and doing very well, now.  
  
Yuuko was dead.  
  
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A/N: short chapter, yet sad as well. *Yawns* sorry it took me so long to double-post or whatever. I am bad girl. Next chappy as soon as possible... Haku will make an appearance in this story, don't worry. 


	5. Determination

A/N: yup... poor Chihiro. If I lost my mum or dad I think that I'd go into chronic depression and become an anorexic. *shudders with tears in eyes* I can't believe I just admitted how much I rely on my parents. *sniff* I am mummy's little girl. *sniff, sniff* poor Chihiro and Hikari. Oh, and SOMEBODY *glances at readers casually* said something about Chihiro's dad. I'm actually contemplating that, and have been for a while. Haku is gonna save her - and Hikari, of course. -_-0 give me a sec. I hate Hiroshi - isn't that sad? I based him off of my brother, too. And NO, my brother doesn't abuse me. pathetic. Then I'd have an excuse to lock him away - but one time I did piss him off enough to chase me around the house screaming bloody murder once, and 'Hiroshi' means 'generous' and it just kind of clicked. That day I stuck pizza in his shoes... *sighs at happy memories*... OH! But I'm getting of topic, heheh, heh, heh... uh, now, where was I? Oh, yeah. 'nyway, here! I'm giving out free Haku-Flags! *winks* for the fans, of course. *passes out big red flags that read 'K-O-H- A-K-U! I L-O-V-E- YOU! SA-AVE CHIHIRO!' on them in seven different languages* we're nearing the confrontation! So to speak. *grins* I'm making this chapter extra eeeextraaaaaaa long so that I can at least get Haku's name mentioned. And, uh, heh; here's where the real AU comes in. with Haku and all. *starts to sweat* um, uh, um, he's really kind, of, um... *runs and hides* DON'T KILL ME! Haku isn't the Kohaku River in this. Chihiro is just weird, that's all. weird in more than one way, you will soon see. SO the moral of this story is:  
  
......... *crickets chirp* .........  
  
Disclaimer: no own  
  
Chapter Started: 5/5/03  
Chapter Finished: 5/8/03  
  
Third Person POV  
  
SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN POSTING!!!  
  
One week after the last chapter.  
  
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Chihiro watched the babbling Kohaku River blankly, like she had ever since the hospital had released her. Akio was home, now, but Hiroshi was probably too depressed to show Chihiro who was older. Everybody was silent. Nobody spoke. Akio went to work, and Hiroshi took Chihiro to school.  
  
There, nobody spoke - to sound came to her, or from her. Somehow somebody had let out word that Chihiro Ogino's mother had died. Everybody looked on sympathetically. Chihiro avoided Rumi and Co. - she didn't want to talk, and every lunch and recess she would stay in the empty classroom with Sensei, who had made a habit of bringing the child her usual lunch of a dumpling and rice ball. Sometimes, Chihiro would cry, and she would hold her, just like Yuuko used to hold her.  
  
Every night, she cried herself to sleep. She got up early each morning so that she could come to the Kohaku River. Akio stayed out late, and finally one dinner quietly announced he had taken the night shift for his job for the next few months. Hiroshi stayed out late every night, getting drunk probably. When he came home, he was too stoned to think of 'that nasty brat next door to his room'.  
  
Hikari, the doctors said, would be able to come home for the first time in a while longer.  
  
Chihiro reflected on all of this, staring into the depths of the crystalline river.  
  
"Kohaku," she said softly. "sometimes I hate you for not being able to feel what I feel."  
  
The river did not answer.  
  
Chihiro said nothing more.  
  
It hurt. A constant ache in her chest, eyes and stomach; in her heart, spirit, and soul.  
  
When the doctor had told her, he had offered with a pained expression to see. Chihiro had shook her head no, and the nurse had finally found her in the bathroom the next day, having cried herself to the point beyond dry heaves.  
  
Then, an emptiness had filled her. Like that feeling you have in your stomach when you aren't hungry but you aren't full, only ten times worse; like an elephant was standing on her chest constantly, making it difficult to breathe, especially when crying; like her heart had been ripped to a million pieces, but not her physical heart. Her little wispy hair was now limp, and couldn't be put into its usual baby ponytail, so Chihiro left it down. She didn't bother to brush it, because it obeyed whatever her fingers told it to do. At school, everybody could see she had been crying, and it wasn't long until everybody - Kindergarten through ninth grade (the Jr. High had finally moved in) - knew.  
  
Once, Rumi and her sisters had tried to approach Chihiro, one at a time. Rumi had tried speaking to her before class; Minako and Makoto had sat with her at lunch; Rei, who had a different lunch period, walked silently with Chihiro when she entered school, and waited with her when Hiroshi came to pick her up.  
  
Kimiko had come over with Hiroshi one night, and had privileged Chihiro enough to ignore the heck out of her.  
  
Three weeks had passed like this, and Chihiro knew that Hiroshi and Akio were falling apart, just like her. Akio was now so dedicated to his work, he rarely could be found at home. Hiroshi had recently broken up with Kimiko, and Chihiro had listened to Kimiko's bitchy message on the phone's answering machine only yesterday.  
  
Chihiro's birthday passed and nobody seemed to notice nor care; not even Chihiro herself.  
  
Once, in the silence of a Saturday, she spoke for the first time in ages, changing their answering machine - which was usually Yuuko's chirpy voice - so that of her own flat, toneless voice, saying that if they hadn't picked up, nobody would answer the phone, and no calls would be returned.  
  
Then she went to the Kohaku River and cried.  
  
Now, Sunday and the beginning of her fourth week of misery, Hiroshi seemed to finally come out of it.  
  
Chihiro saw the look in his eyes; she listened blankly as he screamed at her for changing the message machine, and when he finally left to 'change it once and for all,' Chihiro went to the bathroom and washed the blood off of her face, stomach, and arms. New bruises blossomed, and more pain - more physical pain.  
  
And Chihiro his behind it.  
  
She twisted the pain into something else, something useful, to hide behind. Her emotions played no part in the world of pain - she had a different reason to cry; an excuse to herself to finally take a bath and clean herself up; and at last, on Monday early morning, sitting on the banks of the Kohaku River, she again spoke out loud for the first time in ages, again.  
  
"Kohaku, thank you for always being here for me. I guess momma wouldn't want me to mope around like this."  
  
And the river splashed and roared, never ending in its ceaseless music.  
  
"But it still hurts, unless I'm behind my physical pain. Suicidal. I'm not suicidal! I fully intend to get Hikari as soon as she can come home and run away. I know you don't approve, Kohaku, but there's nothing else I can do! Please understand."  
  
Her throat hurt.  
  
"Okay Kohaku? And I hope you aren't thinking that I'm suicidal, cause I'm not; peoples aren't supposed to get suicidal until they're teenagers!"  
  
She stopped and listened closely to the river. Then she cried. got up. Left.  
  
Hiroshi seemed to have snapped completely out of his depressed stage. He snarled at Chihiro as she climbed into his car and pulled her backpack onto her lap.  
  
"It's all your fault," he said as they drove along. "that she's dead. Everything is your fault! Do you understand that? Shimatta, answer me!"  
  
I don't want to play the game now, Hiroshi, Chihiro thought, staring out the window. "It's my fault, Hiroshi." She said, knowing what it was that he wanted her to say. In truth, Chihiro knew that if she were to blame anybody, it would be Hikari. But she loved her sister so much already, and she couldn't help being born early.  
  
"It's Hikari's fault too," he continued, as though reading her mind. "mom would still be here if she hadn't been born."  
  
Chihiro had to agree with that. But she loved Hikari, ever since she had seen her tiny body in that plastic see-through box, with those needles poked into her soft baby skin and her heart monitor bleeping away. she had the most gorgeous eyes, big and shiny from the inside, a dark, deep blue. The doctor had once said that her eyes would most likely change brown, since they already looked almost black. Chihiro hoped they would stay the way they were - so blue almost black. Once she had thought about what it would feel like to be Hikari when she was older, and she cried. Knowing that she would have been the one to kill her mother before they had even met properly would be enough punishment.  
  
No. Chihiro could never blame Hikari. Never.  
  
Could she?  
  
"It's only fair that both you and Hikari pay," Hiroshi was saying blandly. "since she killed mom outright, she'll have to be killed slowly too. And you, my sweet imouto, will have a chance of earning the privilege of being killed quickly."  
  
Chihiro ignored his threat, lapsing into her usual silence.  
  
"ANSWER ME!" they stopped in front of the school.  
  
Chihiro opened the door and threw her backpack out. Then she turned, looked Hiroshi square in the eye, and said:  
  
"You know what, oh dear big brother of mine? I hate you. I hate you with all of my heart, but I'm still going to do you a favor by taking Hikari and leaving."  
  
"Leaving to Hell!" Hiroshi roared, reached out, and Chihiro's head snapped to the side, a feeling of pain and tingling in her cheek. She burrowed inside of it, blocking out her inner pain, and grinned at Hiroshi before standing up on the seat.  
  
"Hit me, Hiroshi," she said. "go ahead; I don't care any more. I don't care if you shred me to pieces slowly and painfully with a paper clip. I don't care if you go out and commit suicide, and I don't care if you and daddy get drunk and end up getting thrown in jail for murder. I don't care if one day I am standing on your grave. Go on. I *like* the pain."  
  
Hiroshi let out a roar and fisted her in the stomach, sending her back and on the curb, hitting it with her back. Tears fell from her eyes as he unbuckled his seatbelt and crawled over to the edge, grabbing her left wrist.  
  
"Since when do you talk back to your elder," he hissed in her ear dangerously.  
  
"Since now." She replied and jerked her wrist out of his grasp. Braking into a sprint, she grabbed her backpack and shot into the school. Inside the doors, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Hiroshi, who looked furious. She didn't care. Turning, she marched to the office, to check in. her excuse for being late was sleeping in. she insisted that she was fine, and after shaking off the nurse, went to the bathroom and washed her face thoroughly, gasping slightly as she realized her lip was cut. How had that happened?  
  
The air had been knocked out of her, and she knew fresh bruises would blossom on her back and stomach. She figured her cheek would just be a little red for a while - he actually hadn't hit as hard as he usually did.  
  
Unable to hold it in any longer, Chihiro climbed onto the counter that held alll the sinks, placed her forehead against the mirror, and cried, holding her stomach.  
  
Crying from outside pain, her broken heart momentarily forgotten about. For that moment, she was grateful.  
  
It wasn't until wet sobs had turned to dry heaves that Chihiro realized she was being held by somebody, back patted gently, being comforted. Just like Yuuko used to do. Chihiro glanced up, took Rei in in a glance, then began to cry again for her spiritual pain this time.  
  
It was quite a while before Chihiro was finally all cried out for the hour, and she just sat there, nestled in Rei's arms.  
  
"Better?" Rei asked after a while of silence.  
  
"......... What are you doing here, Rei-chan?"  
  
"I came during first period to go to the bathroom, and found you in here. Your bruised up rather badly, Chihiro-chan. What happened? There's no better way to rub salt in the wound than to combine physical pain with emotional."  
  
"I fell down the stairs," Chihiro muttered by instinct. "I'll heal, I always have. Rei-chan, did you know," she paused, resting her head on Rei's shoulder. "my momma used to hold me like this. All the time, but it got kinda hard when Hikari started to come, it was a little funny."  
  
Rei didn't say anything for a moment, and Chihiro realized she wasn't wearing her shirt. So that's how Rei had found the bruises.  
  
"Who's Hikari?"  
  
"My baby sister. She's gonna come out of the hospital soon, the doctors said. She's doing better."  
  
"What's wrong with her?"  
  
"She was born too early. I think that's what killed her - I guess having a baby early is bad, huh?"  
  
"I guess. I'd like to meet Hikari, Chihiro, if that would be okay. Have they let you see her?"  
  
"Yes. She's in this plastic see-through box thing, with needles and tape on her arms, and a heart monitor. She has big, huge eyes that are so blue they look black. The doctor said that they would probably turn brown - I hope they don't. the nurse said, when I left, that they would most likely stay that color if they hadn't already changed. Her skin is really soft is pale, and she's so little."  
  
Chihiro had almost forgotten that talking hurt her throat so much. She made a feeble attempt to clear it. she would have to lay off on the talking.  
  
"Need a drink?" Rei offered. "I think you should see the nurse."  
  
"No. Don't want to see the nurse. Don't need to. I don't wanna deal with any grown ups."  
  
"Ah. I understand. But you must be really sore!"  
  
"I'm fine. Where's my shirt?"  
  
"I saw it had a little blood on it and took it off. Here, I'll get it." she gently put Chihiro down and found her shirt, helping Chihiro put it on.  
  
"C'mon, I'll take you to get a drink. Are you hungry?"  
  
"Not really." Chihiro let Rei carry her to a small drinking fountain, then sat down and sighed.  
  
"Why do you ask?"  
  
"It's lunch time. Haha, I've skipped two and a half classes, and skipping one now! Ah, the joys of playing hooky." She offered Chihiro a small smile, which Chihiro tried and failed to return.  
  
"Sensei usually brings me lunch," she muttered. "but I don't want to go. I just want to take Hikari and go away from this place."  
  
"What about your dad and brother?"  
  
"How do you know I have a brother?"  
  
"I'm with you when he picks you up and all," she replied. Her tone grew serious, and she knelt down in front of Chihiro. "I saw what happened this morning. Does Hiroshi do that a lot to you?"  
  
Chihiro didn't answer. She averted her eyes away from Rei's gaze, but Rei gripped her shoulders firmly. "Chihiro."  
  
"No, not really. I was just angry at him and said some bad things I shouldn't have."  
  
Rei shook her head and sighed, releasing her shoulders. "What about your dad?"  
  
"He works the late shift."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Chihiro looked up. "I don't want to go to school today. I want to see Hikari." She felt herself begin to cry, but pushed firmly back against the tears.  
  
Rei hugged her gently.  
  
"I can take you to the hospital if you want," she murmured. "I just got my drivers license last Saturday. And next period after lunch I have Algebra," she wrinkled her nose. "hate algebra. So what do you say? The two of us go and be bad girls, playing hooky to go to the hospital?"  
  
Chihiro looked up at her.  
  
"I don't want to get you in trouble."  
  
"Trust me, my record is clean and Rumi and Mina - when they aren't busy hating each other - can come up with some brilliant excuses." She winked, and Chihiro offered her the ghost of a smile.  
  
"If you want to meet Hikari," she mumbled, shifting her gaze again.  
  
"You bet! Come on, Chihiro-chan, let's break some rules!"  
  
Chihiro really did smile a little bit at that time, but stopped because it hurt her lip. Rei hoisted her onto her shoulders, and, being a bit too devious for her own good, got out to a red car.  
  
"My very own," she said proudly, unlocking the front doors and setting Chihiro in the front seat. She skipped around to the front and started the engine. "too bad it's a stick shift. Automatics are so much more easier."  
  
They pulled out and got from the school parking lot, a bit slowly, Chihiro noticed. She looked at Rei as they stopped at a light, and watched her brow wrinkle in concentration, biting her lower lip. She decided not to speak.  
  
They reached the hospital, and with some arguing and convincing Rei and Chihiro were being led to Hikari.  
  
"She really is small," Rei said, looking down at her. She glanced at the doctor. "When can she come home?"  
  
"Two months at the soonest, but without a mother to breast feed her I imagine it'll be a little hard."  
  
"We'll manage," Chihiro said quietly.  
  
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A/N: whew, okay, halfway, I think! I'm going to jump ahead a week to a Friday afternoon. And of COURSE during this time jump Hiroshi expresses his insecureness out on Chihiro. That's right; all those child abusers are simply insecure morons that can't bother to get a life. *cough* 'scuse me. kay, uh, One Week Later.  
  
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Friday night; dinner time. Akio had actually come home.  
  
"Chihiro," he said quietly into the silence at last. "I understand that you're suffering, but so is Hiroshi and I am too. But are we spreading bad rumors about ourselves? No."  
  
Chihiro and Hiroshi stared at him blankly.  
  
"So I am hoping that you answer truthfully when He comes, and don't tell any unnecessary lies about your brother and I."  
  
The rest of the meal was passed in silence. Chihiro didn't eat anything, of course; after Akio left for work again, Hiroshi would just make sure she threw up.  
  
He did, even when she hadn't eaten anything.  
  
The next day, on Saturday, Akio had actually come home. He and Hiroshi spoke for a while, then he gave Chihiro a stiff hug and left again, promising to be home for dinner. Hiroshi sat Chihiro on the couch and sighed.  
  
"Listen imouto; I want everything to be over between us. No more game and no more pain."  
  
Chihiro wasn't quite sure what this meant, and she wasn't sure if she should like it at all.  
  
"Besides," he continued, "we can't help dad raise Hikari-chan in a violent environment, can we?" he smiled.  
  
"So..." Chihiro had to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "we aren't going to fight anymore?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"No more game?"  
  
"No more game."  
  
He hugged her tightly, and she returned it hesitantly a moment afterwards.  
  
"Can I go play outside?"  
  
"Sure; just be back for dinner."  
  
"Yes sir." Chihiro grabbed her windbreaker coat and went outside, running once out on the street.  
  
She knew better than to trust Hiroshi; daddy had probably asked him about the bruises. Or something like that. Chihiro was angry that he would try tricking her like that - especially using Hikari against her.  
  
She settled on the bank of the Kohaku River and cried.  
  
She ended up crying herself to sleep, and dreaming; floating in a painless oblivion, seeing first the dragon, then being held and kissed by the boy.  
  
She did not remember it when she woke up.  
  
Woke up barely in time for dinner; a fish had splashed in her shallow pool, splashing her with water and effectively waking her.  
  
"Thank you Kohaku," Chihiro said gratefully, got up and ran back to the house.  
  
Akio gave her the same speech as before, and this time Hiroshi put in a few things too. Then the evening was finished in silence, and Chihiro ate heartily since she knew Hiroshi wouldn't hurt her, not at the moment.  
  
And the next day, Akio stayed home and made breakfast, just like Yuuko used to do. He was beginning to pick up his act.  
  
And sometime during lunch time, Chihiro realized why Hiroshi and Akio were acting so strange:  
  
The Social Worker was tall, a little taller than Akio, and had a clean- shaven face. His hair was short and black, and his eyes were a sparkling green. He carried a clipboard under one arm and a bag under the other. He wore a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt, and a small professional looking pair of glasses; Chihiro froze when she saw him, and when she saw the way Hiroshi and Akio greeted him, she knew her suspicions to noot trust Hiroshi were right; once this guy was gone Akio would go back to work and Hiroshi would beat the shit out of her.  
  
Still, tears pricked at her eyes; she had known something like this was up, but hadn't expected it to happen so soon.  
  
"Chihiro-chan, this is Mr. Kawa. He's a special person that works with children your age, and he wants to ask you a few questions." Akio said, leading Mr. Kawa to the couch, where Chihiro was sitting. He offered a and, which Chihiro took to humor him, and she offered him to sit down. Which Mr. Kawa did.  
  
"W- We'll be back in an hour or so," Hiroshi said, stepping out the door which Akio held open. He did NOT look happy to leave - probably because if Chihiro blabbed he might get in trouble.  
  
"Be good, Chihiro," Akio said, then left too. A car zoomed away.  
  
Mr. Kawa asked her things like, was she happy, did she have friends, how she felt she was coping with Yuuko's death, about Hikari, etc., etc., and his questions continued into the day. Chihiro didn't tell the truth, not most of the time. She couldn't have anybody messing with her plans to get Hikari and go.  
  
Finally, just as it was getting dark, Hiroshi came home, and he spoke quietly with Mr. Kawa.  
  
"Thank you, Miss Ogino," Mr. Kawa said. "you've been a very good girl for me. do you mind if I come over once Hikari has joined your household?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay, thank you, then." He smiled brightly, warmly, and left. Hiroshi watched him go, then turned to Chihiro. Without words, he ordered her to tell everything he and she had said, and Chihiro did.  
  
"Only punished when you're bad, huh?" he asked ominously when Chihiro was finished.  
  
She knew what was coming.  
  
Hiroshi left close to a few hours later, off to get drunk and laid.  
  
Chihiro dragged herself to the bathroom. 'until Hikari comes,' she thought. 'when Hikari comes, we'll go.' She would survive for the last part of Yuuko that she had.  
  
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A/N: okay, I'm sorry, I got halfway through this chapter and it was twenty document pages. So I'm going to transfer it to a different document, okay? Sorry about that! 


	6. The Value of a Dollar

A/N: alright, sorry about not getting Our Hero in. ^_^0 I am bad girl. He's coming, though! Don't you worry!  
  
Chapter Finished: 5/8/03  
  
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Akio was no longer working the late shift.  
  
But his betrayal left a bitter taste in Chihiro's mouth each time she thought of it. him. He and Hiroshi. She had to get away, soon. 'please hurry and get better soon, Hikari,' she thought desperately every waking moment. Chihiro had stopped caring again, and lapsed back into her silence. If only Mr. Kawa had come sooner, he probably would have taken her and Hikari away to a new home.  
  
Her hair, now long enough to be put properly in a semi-ponytail, was always a mess. She didn't care that bruises and cuts were visible to the outside world; usually Hiroshi or Akio would take Yuuko's old make-up and use it on her.  
  
She was in constant soreness, and still cried herself to sleep every night, when she slept. When she didn't, she waited a while, trying to think of happier times with Yuuko and Akio. Then she would perfect her plans for getting away with Hikari.  
  
What she had figured so far was to get some food and water for herself, some baby mush and formula for Hikari, and a couple changes of clothes in first hand; blankets were going to be needed, as well as a baby carrier for Hikari. The before things Chihiro planned to pack in an old backpack of Hiroshi's; she wasn't sure about the baby carrier. She had seen the one that would belong to Hikari (the room Hikari was supposed to sleep in hadn't even been glanced at ever since...) and knew she wouldn't be able to carry it. she didn't dare carry Hikari in her arms; she'd hate to hurt her in any way.  
  
She knew where she would go; follow the Kohaku River up stream, where it flowed out into the country. She had glanced at maps and figured if she was quick she could make it to the next town, which was a bit small, in maybe three or four days. The Kohaku River was very bendy, but went right by it.  
  
She figured once she got there she'd restock on supplies and catch a bus farther out. All of this would take money - which Chihiro was saving. Her math was improving wonderfully, and she was aware that she had twenty-five dollars in cash. She hid it in her socks, and changed socks quickly and quietly in the bathroom with the door locked. She didn't want Hiroshi or that man that now came home drunk and found her a nice punching bag to steal what she had.  
  
Twenty-five... five in change, by simply scrounging around on the ground for the most beginning part of her life; ten from Yuuko; and ten from Akio. She wasn't quite sure how to get more money - a job, was what she needed. Chihiro resolved that she would only resort to stealing if she had to.  
  
But how is a six-year-old girl to get a job?  
  
She went over everything she knew about getting jobs;  
  
Dress up formal and get money.  
  
That was it.  
  
How could she get a job if she didn't know how to get one?  
  
For the next few weeks, Chihiro pondered over this. Hikari would get to come home in some more weeks, the doctors had said; Chihiro made sure to be the only one to answer the phone when they called (caller id).  
  
It was during this such three-day-beforehand call that Chihiro was struck with an idea.  
  
"Hey, doctor? Could you do me - my family a favor? My dad is out, and he wants Hikari to stay in the hospital for a little while longer until she has enough strength to be left mostly on her own. He and my brother are out a lot, and I'm not sure he really trusts me with Hikari that much..."  
  
"Oh, I guess so."  
  
"Say, do you have any jobs there for six-year-olds?"  
  
The doctor laughed. "I don't believe we do, hon, I'm sorry. Not unless it's volunteer work, maybe... why?"  
  
"I'm trying to find a job. See," lies were always quick to form in her mind by now. "my daddy is always out all the time working - but he can't really support us, so Hiroshi my brother has an after school job, but it isn't really working out, still I want to help support my family! And my daddy thinks I'd learn responsibility, blah, blah, blah, but I think it would be exciting at the same time! Do you know a place that would pay a six-year- old girl to work?"  
  
She waited breathlessly.  
  
"I'm not sure that anybody will really pay a six-year-old to work, hon," the doctor said. Her voice sounded sympathetic - that surprised Chihiro a little bit. Had she actually believed her lie? Not likely. No grown-up was *that* stupid.  
  
... Were they? People like that could be played like a deck of cards.  
  
"W- well, can't you help me think of anything?" Chihiro asked, making her voice slightly hoarse - the I'm-gonna-cry affect.  
  
It worked! Weird woman.  
  
"Can you mow lawns?" the doctor suggested. "water flowers? Tell ya what, my sister works as a waitress at this one restaurant in town - maybe you could be a young waitress and pick up tips?"  
  
"Oh, could I?" Chihiro asked hopefully. This was way better then she had expected.  
  
"I'll call her and ask, how about that? In the mean time, why don't you go from door to door and offer to water plants and weed gardens and such? I used to do that when I was young."  
  
"Oh, I will, thank you thank you thank you!" Chihiro cried happily.  
  
The doctor laughed. What an idiot. A helpful idiot at that - but still an idiot all the same. "Shall I call you later this evening when I get off work?"  
  
Chihiro hesitated. "I'm not sure this evening would work... say, tomorrow's Friday, right? I don't have school that day, but Hiroshi does and my daddy has work. Can you call then?"  
  
"Sure!"  
  
"Okay! Thank you so so so so much! Thank you! thanks!"  
  
she laughed again. "You're welcome Miss Ogino! Talk to you tomorrow around lunch time?"  
  
"Sure! Thank you! did I forget to say thanks? Thank you thank you thank you!! remember what I said about Hikari being more toughened up a bit?"  
  
"I do, and have a nice evening."  
  
"Oh, I will! Thank you!"  
  
The doctor laughed again and hung up. So did Chihiro.  
  
It was as easy as that! Of course she would most likely not get to be a waitress, dur, she would have to be older for that. But she knew about flowers and Yuuko had taught her how to weed gardens, so that would be great!  
  
However, Hiroshi came home then, wiping the smile off her face.  
  
And a little bit after that, Akio stumbled in drunk like usual and Chihiro barely made it to the bathroom then her bedroom. She fell asleep instantly.  
  
.  
  
The next day, Akio was hung over as usual and barely dragged himself out for work - Hiroshi took Chihiro to school, dropped her off just as the bell rang.  
  
She waited until he had left, then turned and began her walk home.  
  
It took all of a couple hours, and she waited patiently for the phone to ring, already mentally outlining her plans for going door to door. She'd do that tomorrow, when Hiroshi and Akio were both out.  
  
She made sure nothing blue or black showed (ah, the ups and downs of two black eyes...) and brushed her hair, putting it into a boppy ponytail. Then she went downstairs and paced for a bit before running back upstairs, taking a deep breath, and entering Hikari's room. Everything was half- finished, but the things needed were there; a round can of baby formula that had a baby crab on the front sat on a small dresser, which held different baby outfits. There was a large bag of diapers against the wall, unopened, and cute little baby toys and whatnot lay around and in a crib, which was half white, unfinished paint job.  
  
Bottles and other things in small boxes were on the top shelf across the room, which would take some reaching to get to. She couldn't risk Hikari getting sick - no, she couldn't let her get hurt in any way.  
  
With a sigh, Chihiro set to work, grabbing two empty bottles, a pacifier, and a small, thin blanket first; she threw the can of baby formula and a few toys, a bunch of diapers, a small box of baby wipes, and many other things onto the blanket. She pushed the little dresser over and put a chair on it to get at the medicines; and when she believed she had everything, she tied the blanket with the contents up and pushed and pulled things around until it looked as though nobody had been there to the untrained eye.  
  
Chihiro took her bag of goods and stashed them in her room, in the back of her closet, beneath a large pile of clothes, where she already had a few spoons, a bag of paper towels, and an old - yet big and suitable - backpack of Hiroshi's. After a moment, she hid her money there, too, then left downstairs just as the telephone rang.  
  
It was the doctor, who defined herself as Kiyuu. Chihiro told her to call her Chihiro, and they arranged for Kiyuu to pick Chihiro up in ten minutes.  
  
Chihiro scurried around, making sure everything was in place, that she looked like a normal (yet professional) six-year-old girl, and redid her hair twice. Then she looked in the mirror and did something she had not done for a very, very long time: she practiced smiling - yet none of the "smiles" reached her eyes, which were dark and misty, almost black (she noticed) apart from their usual brown.  
  
The doorbell rang, and Chihiro scampered downstairs.  
  
Kiyuu was actually a very smart girl who had just gotten out of collage the year before. She told Chihiro she had known she had lied, but would mind her own business, to which Chihiro was eternally grateful. On the way into town, Kiyuu asked her if she really didn't have school today.  
  
Chihiro told her that she did, but this was for a good cause.  
  
And Kiyuu didn't question her - the personality of Sensei and the brains of an understanding young adult. Chihiro liked her, and asked if she knew a lot about babies.  
  
"I'm a twenty-first century midwife," Kiyuu laughed. "ask away."  
  
"Is it hard feeding babies?"  
  
"Not if they're hungry - and trust me, babies are always hungry. Hikari has an appetite herself, really. We have her stuck on bottles and a special "formula" I guess you could say. "  
  
"Well, since I'm pretty much going to be the only one taking care of her, can you tell me everything you know about babies and how to take care of them?"  
  
"You seem a bit young. "  
  
"Please?"  
  
By the time they pulled into an almost-full parking lot, Chihiro had made a mental list of more things she would need, and felt like kicking herself for daring to go out in the wilderness with Hikari - a newborn, or, two months old by now - without knowing the things she had been told.  
  
"This is the place," Kiyuu said. "my sister's name is Usagie (she's a meat- ball head), and she said she'd speak to her boss. And her boss - who really is a dear, she is - said she would interview you. isn't that lovely?"  
  
"Yes, thank you for arranging all of this!" Chihiro said gratefully, unbuckling her seatbelt.  
  
"It really isn't a problem," Kiyuu said as they walked in.  
  
it was a rather busy restaurant, and the lunch hour was in. two waitresses and three waiters scurried around, dressed formally in their company uniforms - aprons and all - and seemed like they were in desperate need of more waiters and waitresses. Everybody spoke loudly, and Chihiro was struck at how much more formal this was than what she had expected.  
  
"Kiyuu-san!" said one waitress, coming over. Chihiro took this chance to examine her outfit more closely: a maroon skirt that make to her thighs, puffed out (like on Sailor Moon, ya know?) and a long-sleeved white shirt. Over that was a corset or bodice that was also maroon-colored, and had the company logo on the top right. She was wearing white tights and black shoes, and looked exactly like Kiyuu - except her sparkling blue eyes were a bit bigger, and her hair was longer - long and blond, and in pigtails and buns. Her skin was a little darker than Kiyuu's, too.  
  
"You must be Miss Ogino," Usagie said, crouching and holding out a hand, which Chihiro shook.  
  
"Are you guys twins? And you can call me Chihiro."  
  
"Yup, we're twins," Usagie said, closing one eye. "and you must call me Usagie-chan."  
  
"I have some friends that are twins, and they hate each other," she told her.  
  
"Sibling rivalry," Kiyuu said. "they'll get over it if they're smart."  
  
"So, back to business; you wanted a job here?" Usagie asked. Chihiro nodded emphatically.  
  
"I promise to work very hard!"  
  
"You do seem a bit young - but come! The boss is a wonderfully nice old woman, and she loves children; she also loved responsibility above all, so I'm certain that if you say something about that you'll have yourself a job at a very young age!"  
  
"Good luck, Chihiro-san," Kiyuu said. "oh, sis, by the way, while I'm here... might as well buy a few munchies, right?" Kiyuu leaned forward and whispered, "can you get me a discount?"  
  
"No, but I can get you a buy one get one free deal."  
  
"Good! I'll take it!"  
  
"Right this way, then, Madame. Miss Ogino, please follow me after this gorgeous guest here is seated at the best." Usagie said in a slightly louder voice. The three giggled a little bit, and Kiyuu took a booth by a window closer in. Chihiro followed Usagie, biting her lip in nervousness and bouncing slightly in excitement. Would she be the first six-year-old to get a job? May be!  
  
They left the hustle and bustle of the big, outer room, and entered a small, narrow hallway that stretched on for quite a while. They passed the bathrooms, and then paused at a big door that read  
  
EMPLOYEES ONLY  
  
In big, maroon letters. Here Usagie paused and looked down at Chihiro momentarily.  
  
"You look alright," she decided and giggled a little bit, pushing the door open and gently nudging Chihiro inside. It seemed to be a big office, with papers everywhere and a desk across the room with a computer and printer, which was printing. And old lady with gray hair sat typing away at a keyboard.  
  
"Madame Zoltanne?" Usagie asked. "this is the six-year-old girl, Miss Ogino, that wanted a job. She said something about supporting her family and learning responsibility, or whatever that is."  
  
Madame Zoltanne looked up, frowned at Usagie ("It'z you, ze lazy forgetful one, eh?" she remarked dryly in a heavy French accent) then her eyes drifted to Chihiro, and she smiled brightly.  
  
"Vhy, hey-lo! I am Madame Zoltanne and vou muzt be Mizz Ogino! Zo, thiz'll be your interview, wi?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," Chihiro said after clearing her throat.  
  
"Good girl! Firzt I vould like to azk vou a few questionz, ai? Okay; zo you are zix yearz owld, yez?"  
  
"Yes I am, Madame Zoltanne." The game.  
  
"Good, good; and vou vant a job here - vhy? Do vou vant to be a vaitress vhen vou grow up?"  
  
Chihiro paused. Waitress? Actually, if she got good at the job, then when she got Hikari and got away far, far away, then she could get a job as a waitress! That would work out wonderfully! She nodded emphatically. "Oh, yes please; I think it would be a very fun, and exciting job to do... all those different people with their different tastes, and I have an excellent memory, and it would be a great way to learn responsibility and there'd be discipline and rewards all at the same time! I really would like the job because it'd be a better way to waste all of that free time I have in a productive way, and make money, too. My daddy is trying to teach me the value of a penny, but he's always at work so that he can get a penny to show me the value of it and I've got to take care of my baby sister and all... fascinating!"  
  
"Hmm," Madame Zoltanne said. "I do not zink that I could give suck a young girl a job and pay her, not really," Chihiro's hope fled her. "but vou might zurvive on tipz, wi? Vou must give me ten hourz a veek. Perhapz if you get good enoguh and stay vith uz until you are older, I vill give vou de actualy job itzelf, wi? Vou agree, yes?"  
  
"Oh, yes, yes!" Chihiro said. "do I get the job?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Chihiro cried, tears of joy springing into her eyes. She pushed them back. "when can I start? Right now? Could I please please please?"  
  
"Vou have a lot to learn," Madame Zoltanne said, startled somewhat. Then she smiled. "Usagie, vou had better have her know more than vou do by ze time she muzt leave, yes? Ve'll have to find a uniform zat may feet her; I do not zink ve do have vone in her size."  
  
"You can leave it to me, Madame Zoltanne!" Usagie said, saluting her. "c'mon Chihiro-chan, you must be the youngest child ever to get a job!" she dragged her out of the room and down the hall to a different "employees only" room, which they entered.  
  
"It's not really a job, since I won't be getting paid," Chihiro murmured.  
  
"You'll get tipped, trust me," Usagie remarked, going through some boxes. "lessee, there aren't any company uniforms in your size here." She paused, frowning slightly. "oh, I know! I baby-sit a couple of kids your age, and I have some clothes out in my car; tell Kiyuu-chan to get you some white tights, then come back here to me. I'll find something that'll fit you, never you worry!" she handed some keys (connected to about a million key chains) to Chihiro and smiled.  
  
Obediently, Chihiro went out to Kiyuu, and returned ten minutes later with a pair of white tights.  
  
Usagie had found a maroon skirt that was too big for Chihiro, but after some playing with it, she got it to work. Chihiro was allowed to keep her white long-sleeved turtle-neck on, and over that Usagie put some suspenders holding the skirt up, which was folded and played with so that it fit rather nicely. It came down to her knees, and she put the white tights on, and Usagie gave her a pair of black socks to wear and a sticker with the restaurant logo on it on her top left shoulder.  
  
"You look perfect!" Usagie cooed. "now, for being a good waitress all you have to do is smile a lot, memorize the specials, tell the customers what the specials are - and above all, take notes on what they order, remember who ordered, and remember which table they're from. Got that? Here's a little note book!" she handed Chihiro a small note book like hers and the other waiters/waitresses had, and a small pen.  
  
They walked out, and Usagie attempted to get Chihiro to memorize the specials, which she didn't, of course. Then Usagie realized that she had forgotten too - so they decided that today wouldn't technically be the real first day.  
  
"Now, you just follow me around, and carry this tray here - yes, like that! - it'll be a little heavy with the glasses of water on it, then you just walk around and give people, new customers, their water, for now, at least. Got that?"  
  
"Give new customers their water, follow you around, got it," Chihiro recited, grunting slightly at the weight of the tray after Usagie balanced a bunch of glasses of clean, clear water.  
  
"Just follow me, now, and smile a lot," Usagie said at last, and they left the hallway.  
  
Just then, more people walked in, a man and a woman. A waiter seated them, and Usagie walked over, smiling prettily, holding some menus. She told them the specials (not bothering to mention the ones she had forgotten) and handed them first a menu each then took two glasses of water from Chihiro's tray and placed them in front of them.  
  
"What a sweet little girl," the woman said.  
  
"She's a waitress-in-training," Usagie replied, grinning broadly. Chihiro took that as her cue and smiled as well, bowing as well as she could with the tray.  
  
The man and woman laughed.  
  
This continued for the rest of the day, and Chihiro found she rather enjoyed it. it was a great way to forget her physical and emotional pain, dedicating herself completely to memorizing what Usagie told her to, carrying the heavy water-laden tray around and going back and forth between the kitchens and a table Usagie was cleaning with dirty cups and plates. it was like school work, except school work was harder to stay focused on.  
  
Kiyuu left after Usagie assured her that she'd take Chihiro home. Chihiro didn't think about Hiroshi supposed to be picking her up, and she didn't think about Sensei getting worried and calling first home then Akio's work. Not that Akio would care - he and Hiroshi would just use it as an excuse to use their new punching bag - it walked and breathed. Chihiro figured it would only be a matter of time before they teamed up on her.  
  
And any thought of Yuuko was still painful.  
  
"See this?" Usagie asked, holding up a few bills from a table they had just cleaned - the man and woman's. "the customers try to leave ten percent of the price if they like us. If they don't like us they leave five percent or nothing - and it's up to us to figure out what we did wrong. See, these nice people left ten percent, I think, but since they hardly have anything, it's five dollars. Here, you can have the first - your first tip is always the best - I get paid and work all week, anyway, so I don't mind."  
  
Obediently, Chihiro took the bill and stuffed it down her sock. Usagie snickered at her choice of hiding place.  
  
"Okay, so, now that you've got that down, think you're ready to handle somebody on your own?"  
  
"I don't have the specials memorized."  
  
"That's okay, they're on your notebook,"  
  
So they were.  
  
"It really is easier then you make it look," Chihiro murmured, blushing. "I still can't believe I got a job! Already!"  
  
"Yup, but ten hours a week, did you hear her? You'll have to organize it, like, two hours after school and weekends off, or something like that."  
  
"I want to work weekends," Chihiro explained, knowing that Hiroshi and Akio were always out or stoned on weekends.  
  
"Okay, then, you've spent an hour and a half about here now, so that means you owe eight and a half hours now," Usagie paused. "if you don't work on weekdays, then just work five hours today, and five hours tomorrow, and you'll have it made."  
  
"How long is five hours?"  
  
Usagie glanced at her watch. "three and a half more hours for you would be around four afternoon," Usagie explained. "and you must be hungry." Usagie paused. "I usually carry around rice balls and dumplings to snack on since I work through afternoon lunch rushes, sometimes at least. Thirty hours a week for me. Anyway, would you like some?"  
  
"Oh, yes please, my Sensei always has those!" Chihiro explained.  
  
"Probably because they're easy to transfer and good to eat," Usagie remarked, leading her to the back again. They went into what looked like a teacher's lounge for waiters and waitresses and Usagie grabbed a backpack full of rice balls, dumplings, and many other things - mostly candy and snacks.  
  
"here you go, help yourself," Usagie said, stuffing some candy down her mouth. "want some candy? It keeps you running."  
  
"No, thanks," Chihiro said, and ate two dumplings. Then Usagie gave her a little toothbrush and explained that waiters/waitresses must always have clean teeth - then she gave her a mint, free of charge.  
  
"I don't usually come to the back this often," Usagie laughed as they went back out. "if I did this - ignoring the customers this much - on a daily basis, I'd be fired just like that. So, always stay out to help the customers, because there's always a customer to help, understand? There aren't a lot of us working on weekends, as you can see. Now, if you think you're ready for a table by yourself...?"  
  
"I want to try!" Chihiro said automatically. Usagie still seemed amazed by her.  
  
"Okay, just," just then, somebody walked in. an old woman, and all by herself. She waited for a free waiter. "there's your fresh meat," Usagie whispered. "good luck!"  
  
"Thank you," Chihiro hissed after her. Usagie watched, and crossed her fingers.  
  
Chihiro walked as professionally as she could to the old woman and bowed. "Welcome to the Chibi Café! Would you like a seat in the smoking section or non?"  
  
"Oh, what a sweet little girl! Non for me, please, and if you have a booth by the window, that would be nice."  
  
"This way, please, ma'am," Chihiro said, trying to sound like Usagie as she led the woman over to what looked like the only free table - a booth by the window. Chihiro tried not to think about what she would have done if there hadn't been a free seat or something like that. The old woman sat down with a sigh.  
  
Chihiro bowed again, and said, "I'll take your order whenever your ready." She started to leave, but the old woman chuckled and said, "I'm on my coffee break, honey."  
  
Taking that as an old fashioned way of saying 'take my order now,' Chihiro took out her little notebook and pen, then silently cursed herself for not saying the specials like she was supposed to.  
  
"I'll have a single-shot tall vanilla latté, with a small cinnamon roll. Just tell them it's Ms. Koki-san, the cooks'll know," she added as Chihiro struggled to write everything down in abbreviations like Usagie did.  
  
"Yes ma'am. I'll be right back," Chihiro told her, and just like Usagie, smiled prettily before quickly leaving with the paper. There were already a few on the metal table where the cooks were, but anyway, she couldn't reach where she was supposed to put the paper. She looked about and saw Usagie with a family of six, set her jaw, and decided that this was the real thing.  
  
Being resourceful, Chihiro dragged a chair over and as she stood on it to get to the top of the metal window thing where the cooks were, she realized she hadn't brought the woman any water! 'stupid Chihiro, stupid, stupid, stupid!' she thought angrily as she finally managed to clamber up onto the metal thing. A cook looked at her and he laughed.  
  
"This is for Ms. Koki-san," Chihiro said, bending under the window and leaning through, handing the paper to the only free cook, it seemed was not completely free.  
  
"Ah, okay," the cook said. "be right up."  
  
Chihiro waited anxiously, and a waiter came over with a slip of paper, looked at Chihiro, and laughed. Another waiter and a waitress did the same until Usagie came over with a slip of paper of her own.  
  
"Hey, I'm sorry I wasn't there," she said apologetically. "how did it go?"  
  
"I forgot the specials and menu and water," Chihiro told her miserably.  
  
"Ms. Koki-san?" asked a different cook, putting the things in front of Chihiro. She started to reach for an empty round tray that she could carry, but Usagie got one for her and loaded it with the things while Chihiro climbed off the chair.  
  
"Good luck," Usagie told her again, handing her the tray carefully.  
  
It was very heavy, and Chihiro walked slowly back to Ms. Koki, biting her lip in concentration. However, she managed to make it, and gave a sigh of relief as she put the tray on the table, climbed onto the other side of the booth, and served the old customer that way. The old lady chuckled.  
  
"Would you be liking anything else?" Chihiro asked, climbing back down with the tray.  
  
"Oh, no thank you, dear, this'll be enough for me."  
  
"Okay, have a good day, then," Chihiro said, bowing, smiling, and exiting just like Usagie did. Back at the entrance to the hallway, she gave a sigh, then jumped up and down excitedly. Usagie joined her a moment later.  
  
"Ooh, you did great, Chihiro-chan!" she said, picking her up and squeezing her.  
  
"Now, just keep an eye on her and clear up some tables, and you've got it down!"  
  
"I did it I did it I did it!" Chihiro laughed, smiling - genuinely - for the first time since Yuuko had died.  
  
"Alright, can I trust you on your own for a little bit?" Usagie asked.  
  
"Yup you can trust me!"  
  
"Okay - now, try not to forget anything else, don't serve any large families - seat them if you can and let a different waiter or waitress see to them, okay? Things will be slowing down now since it's past twelve, since everybody wants to get here before twelve and skip the lunch rush, but we're going to be a bit busy still, okay? If you get hungry, just go back and snatch some of my food, and if you have any questions, doubts, fears, anything, then come to me, even if I'm speaking with the emperor, okay? Got all that?"  
  
Chihiro nodded dumbly.  
  
"And you want tips, too, remember: but don't clean up a different table if it's not yours, because that would be rude, understand? Okay?"  
  
"Okay. Thank you, Usagie-san!"  
  
"No problem - and look, see, a family of three. When the waiter leaves, give them some water - that's what you can do! Just help the others, okay?"  
  
"Okay!"  
  
"Okay! See you around - literally!"  
  
Chihiro laughed as Usagie grasped her hands then left. Chihiro grabbed a tray and loaded it with water, then looked around, unsure as to what to do. The waiter with the three had just left, and was coming towards her to grab some water himself, most likely.  
  
"I'll handle it," Chihiro explained as he came near.  
  
"Will you? you seem like a very responsible little girl - a bit young to be working, yet."  
  
"I'm learning responsibility!" she replied and went to the people, giving them each a glass then leaving.  
  
The day continued like this, and out of tips Chihiro made fifteen or something like that. Most of the time, it was Usagie splitting it with her, but Chihiro was still proud. When four o'clock rolled around, Usagie offered to drive her home.  
  
Reluctantly, Chihiro let her.  
  
After giving her the outfit back, Usagie left and Chihiro went and stashed her newly acquired money in her hiding place.  
  
Hiroshi wasn't home, and of course Akio wasn't. so after some more changing and adding things to her pile of things for Hikari (Kiyuu-chan was a fountain of information) then decided to go out and go door to door with offers of flower-bed-baby-sitting.  
  
She redid her make up and hair first, though.  
  
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A/N: Okay, sorry it took so long to get this out! -_-0 finals coming up. *takes deep breath* then it'll be over for one long glorious fanfic-filled summer! :D :D :D P.S. don't you find it strange I gave Chihiro a job at the age of six? :D come on! You know you think I'm crazy now! Come on I SAID COME ON. *sniffs* sorry, but hey, this is AU. ^______^ lol so I can do whatever I want to Chihiro and if I want to give her a job at the age of six then I'LL GIVE HER A FRIGGIN JOB AT THE AGE OF SIX! Got that? Good! 


	7. Running for Freedom

A/N: Okay, sorry about not getting Haku in at your every whim! I know how he and Chihiro are going to meet, I think: I know where they're going to meet at the least, and I suppose that when I get to that part it'll just flow out. ^_^0 I like giving six-year-olds jobs! Lol, I thought it was rather funny. *scribbles on hand* must remember for future reference. 'nyway, thank you for being patient! I myself am still trying to figure out how she's gonna transport Hikari - I mean, sheesh. Oh, and BTW, I've put money in English terms for the readers' enjoyment. Besides, I don't know how yen works, so let's just use our "iMaGiNaTiOnS" okay?  
  
Okay, you know how I said Haku wasn't a spirit? I lied. IN THIS HAKU IS STILL ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RIVER SPIRIT of the Kohaku River, unless I change it. I'll need to make a few time jumps, though, too. Big ones, you know? But that will be for later. I mean, can I really write four-five-six-seven years of nothing until they meet? I mean, God. But I won't jump by YEARS. I'll jump by weeks and/or months. Less, maybe. Sorry! Those will be very uneventful weeks for our heroines. And since when is running away uneventful? ~_^ lol, and who says Akio and Hiroshi will just go "Yippee she's gone" huh, huh, huh? They'll be mad. Angry. Probably beat up on each other, then the victor (the one who isn't in the hospital) will probably track down the girls and kill 'em.  
  
HEY, it's an AU. Anything can happen, right? Lol!  
  
Also, as (I doubt) a few of you noticed, I've made a couple of changes: One, Hikari is two months old, not one. Geeze, I'm a babysitter not a mother - took me a while to figure that stuff out. -_-0 so now I'm, like, on mothers dot come or whatever trying to figure out Hikari's role - she's not like other babies, for reasons I'll tell later (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) so she'll learn and grow stronger faster, and she'll be highly tolerant - she has wisdom beyond her age. It'll just take a while to unearth, that's all. she plays a big part in getting Chihiro to the Spirit World. *claps hands to mouth as eyes grow wide* oh, did I just say that out loud? *faints* oh well, I suppose you would have kicked it out of me sooner or later, you readers being so *clever* and all. ^_^? lol  
  
Disclaimer: I do NOT own "Spirited Away" a.k.a. "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi." Get that? Got that? Good.  
  
Chapter Started: 5/8/03  
Chapter Finished: 5/10/03  
  
One Week after the last chapter  
  
Third Person POV  
  
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Chihiro moaned and pushed her aching muscles to their limit; she got up, slamming a small and sore yet tough fist down on her bleeping alarm clock. Hikari was coming home today. Chihiro knew that Akio would leave her alone when he wasn't drunk.  
  
She shivered, remembering Hiroshi's death threats.  
  
And she was especially sore from last night's "punishments". Hiroshi had just collapsed in his bed when Akio had stumbled in.  
  
They were both hung over, so she knew, when they were sleeping in, hung over, that was her time alone in the house with their presence. Carefully getting dressed, Chihiro realized she hadn't put yesterday's earnings in her hiding spot. She scolded herself, and put the bills where they belonged.  
  
Her door-to-door plan hadn't been very good, but at one house (with a terrible yard) they said they would pay her twenty if she could have it ship shape in any amount of time, and another an old granny had taken pity on her and let her weed her garden and water it for five.  
  
And five was still something.  
  
Tips were pretty small too, but Chihiro's skills of a waitress were improving, and Madame Zoltanne had said that if Chihiro stayed with them, she would get the actual job when she was ten.  
  
Hearing this made Chihiro feel bad, because she wouldn't be there by the time she was ten, not if she had a say about it. all of them - Rumi, Minako, Makoto, Rei, Usagie, Kiyuu, Sensei - she wouldn't see any of them again. But she wouldn't see Yuuko ever again either.  
  
Or Akio nor Hiroshi.  
  
Chihiro cried and forced herself to eat something. Today was Saturday and Chihiro knew she wouldn't get any where today or tonight. Tomorrow - tomorrow night, that was when Hikari and Chihiro would leave. While munching on the toast, Chihiro wondered again and again how she would get Hikari around with her - she was still a baby, fragile, and from what Kiyuu had told her, supporting Hikari's neck the wrong way could kill her! She was at a loss as to of what to do. And Hikari would be bigger, too - and heavier. A baby and large and filled backpack would slow her down immensely.  
  
Swallowing, Chihiro went back upstairs and began organizing things; she loaded the things into the backpack with blankets and clothes on bottom, followed by some spoons, a small pocket knife, two bottles, the baby formula, ten diapers. Chihiro would have to pack more just in case. A couple of small, soft baby toys, the last bottle of Yuuko's perfume, a picture of the family - when Chihiro had been very small - a small Polaroid camera, a small can of money (which currently held $72 - almost a hundred!) and another can that held vitamins, all the baby medicines, some childrens' Advil and Tylenol, and a few things that Chihiro didn't know what they were - but medicine all the same. The completely stuffed the main part, so on the left side pocket Chihiro put another few changes of socks and a couple of diapers and baby wipes and powder. On the right hand side pocket Chihiro decided she'd put a small circular can of ice and a bottle of ice water - in the front bottom pocket she decided on hot water, but wasn't sure how to keep it hot. She'd need hot water for the formula, though; she conceded to put a bottle of milk and a couple little bottles of baby mush with the ice water. There was still another pocket in the front, and Chihiro decided to put some food and any other last minute items in there.  
  
Then she hid the almost-full backpack again and listened to Akio throwing up.  
  
Good for him.  
  
It was late afternoon by the time both Akio and Hiroshi were on their feet, and they called the hospital. Then they loaded into Akio's car - Yuuko's car - and went to pick Hikari up with the baby carrier - it was in the car that Chihiro thought of something that might support Hikari against her chest - that would be much easier. She'd have to ask Kiyuu.  
  
They went to the place where the babies were kept, and there was Kiyuu with two other doctors, holding little Hikari in a pink blanket, dressed in a white body suit thing that snapped under her legs and a diaper. Chihiro was relieved to find her gorgeous big eyes hadn't changed color. She was smiling a little bit, making small sounds as Kiyuu bounced her slightly.  
  
"There's my youngest daughter!" Akio said, taking Hikari from her. "hey, you," he said. "we're going to your new home!" he then gave Hikari to Hiroshi to talk to the doctors and sign some papers. Chihiro peered closely at Hiroshi as he held little Hikari - she felt an itch, an itch to try and snatch Hikari away.  
  
Hikari cooed up at her big brother, but she began to make whimpering sounds as she looked into his eyes. His hold tightened, and Chihiro couldn't stop from crying out in fear for her sister just as Hikari burst into loud, screaming tears.  
  
"Don't scream like that, you're scaring the baby!" Akio scolded, taking Hikari away and trying to get her from crying.  
  
"I wanna hold her!" Chihiro cried instantly.  
  
"No! you're too young and you would probably drop her - you're the one that made her cry in the first place!" Akio snapped. Chihiro felt tears well up, but out of the blurry corners of her eye, she could see Kiyuu and the other two doctors watching closely. She became aware that she hadn't covered a bruise on her chin with some make-up.  
  
And she would NOT cry in front of THEM - not the doctors and her friend - but Akio and Hiroshi. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.  
  
"I didn't make her cry, Hiroshi squeezed her too hard."  
  
She took a deep breath. "I can make her stop crying!"  
  
Akio ignored her and handed the screaming struggling baby back to Hiroshi, who smirked. "Here, imouto, make a miracle," he snarled, kneeling and shoving Hikari into Chihiro's arms.  
  
Chihiro held Hikari softly, supporting her neck, back, and rear end. She looked deep into Hikari's tear-strained eyes, and tried to talk to her mentally, tried to reach her through some way where nobody but she could hear her.  
  
'Don't cry baby sister, I'm here, and I'll protect you! we're running away from those bad people,' she thought hard, staring hard into Hikari's beautiful eyes.  
  
Hikari's screams stilled to complete silence. She blinked a few times, staring at Chihiro in confusion.  
  
"My, Miss Ogino, what a way with kids!" Kiyuu said, attracting the attentions of the others. Chihiro tore her eyes gently away from Hikari, who seemed to snap out of something and began to coo again. Chihiro walked over to Kiyuu, who knelt down and repositioned her hold.  
  
"Kiyuu-san, is there a baby carrier that I can hold Hikari on my stomach, like a baby backpack?"  
  
"Yes there is, though I don't think that there's any that would fit you."  
  
They spoke in low whispers.  
  
"Could you get one that would fit Hikari and me?" Chihiro asked hopefully. Kiyuu melted at the look on the young girl's face, and ran a finger over the bruise on Chihiro's chin.  
  
"I guess I could order a special one - it would take a week at least, though, to get here. Do you mind?"  
  
Chihiro thought a moment. Could she keep herself and Hikari alive? Pretend to be sick, and lock Hikari in her room when she wasn't with her. It would have to work. Safe transportation was a necessity.  
  
"Yeah, thank you very, very much Kiyuu-san."  
  
"No problem. Sometimes I hate being so nice - sheesh."  
  
Chihiro smiled a little bit. She had finished the yard from the one family, and was pretty sure she could bring Hikari to the café.  
  
Akio and Hiroshi both left after making sure that Hikari was asleep in her crib (neither noticing the missing things - jerks) and Chihiro watched them both leave one at a time. Taking a deep breath, she called Usagie's cell and then wrapped Hikari up in some blankets, shockingly not waking her. She was so sweet.  
  
Usagie picked her up, and with a small laugh agreed to skip running around dirty tables for watching Hikari.  
  
That week passed slower than Chihiro would have liked it to, but she did make twenty all together from tips and another five from tripping a flower bed down the street. She had close enough to a hundred dollars, and decided that it would be enough.  
  
As she had planned before, she put Hikari to bed in her own room at nights, and taught herself how to feed her little sister who didn't seem to like the baby mush very much. She also learned the ups and downs of changing diapers - things went better then planned, and she managed to stay conscious after every one of her nightly beatings, and a few day time ones. She did go to school three days, but managed to play sick the rest of the time, instead going to the café to work, and going over her plan.  
  
She added some more things, including a few maps. She thought up excuses to stay in inns for nights - fooling that her parents were there or coming, or whatever she would have to do.  
  
Finally, Kiyuu picked her up on what would be her last day in Tokyo (Chihiro supposed) and showed her how to work the thing over her back and front, getting Hikari comfortable in it. That day, Chihiro had an idea - she asked Usagie to give her a ride to the bus station and wait with her.  
  
Usagie agreed, not knowing where the six-year-old lived. But she soon found out when Chihiro explained they would have to stop by her house for her stuff - now Usagie was suspicious, but all the same, she did as asked. she wondered why Hikari wasn't dropped off at the house, but at the bus stop Chihiro put Hikari in the cloth carrier over her stomach, then put the backpack on. She smiled up at Usagie and thanked her, saying she could go if she wanted.  
  
Usagie, however, waited with her until the bus came, and saw her off. Chihiro paid her bus fare, then sat down with little Hikari on her lap. Traveling by bus there! Why hadn't she thought of it before? 'stupid, stupid, stupid!' she thought while staring out the window. 'go ahead and recklessly risk Hikari's life why don'tcha!'  
  
Hikari yawned and eventually fell to sleep. And Chihiro held her close, bringing her knees up as best she could.  
  
"We're free, Kari-chan," she whispered, more joy than Chihiro had felt in ages in those few uttered words. "we're free."  
  
Hikari slept on.  
  
Since Chihiro hadn't originally planned on riding the bus to the next town, she just stayed on this one until it came to the edge of town. Then, after some asking around, she transferred to a bus that would take her out of town. After paying the fare, she decided that she would go out as far as this bus went out, and that was a small, little tiny town between Tokyo and Saitama. Pulling out her map, Chihiro tried to figure out where they would go from there.  
  
As far away as possible.  
  
Aomori? Okayama? North or South? She'd have to worry about that later. But those would be one of their new homes, Chihiro decided. She reviewed her lies about getting a room in a hotel or motel, and reflected on her friends. She had originally planned to travel along the Kohaku River - did it miss her? She certainly missed it. and she missed Rumi, Minako, Makoto, Rei, Usagie, Kiyuu, and Sensei, and Yuuko.  
  
Softly, she cried. Every few hours, Hikari would start to fuss and threaten to cry, so Chihiro took out a bottle - the only bottle she had of warm water - and mixed a full bottle of formula, feeding her sparingly.  
  
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It was dark when Chihiro got off the bus with only two other people, who seemed to know where they were going. Chihiro didn't. she looked around, watching the setting sun for a moment, then headed down the street, trying not to look hopelessly lost.  
  
Apparently, she didn't do a very good job of this.  
  
"Are you lost?" asked a voice. A man stood before her. Thinking quickly, Chihiro lied, "Not really, well, kinda, sorta. See, my family just moved here and this place is so large next to my old home!"  
  
"Ah," he chuckled. "I understand. Hard to find a place smaller than this, eh? Where is your home?"  
  
"I don't know. I was thinking I would find some place in an inn or something until my parents found me - I used to do that before. Except I don't know where the inn is!"  
  
"I can help there," the man offered. "my nephew works at the only inn here in town - I could probably hook you up with a free room so your parents can find you, sonce technically it wouldn't really be staying there."  
  
"Oh could you? thanks!"  
  
Hikari stirred a little and made a small noise. She was waking up. Her diaper would need to be changed and she would need to be fed.  
  
"Cute baby." The man grunted, and led her to a somewhat small two-story building. There he did just as he had said, and Chihiro occupied herself by changing Hikari's diaper, clothes, and fixing her up a bottle with the small microwave in the room. Not bad, for free. They didn't know she would be staying here all night - Chihiro felt a bit guilty about that.  
  
She fixed her backpack by taking out the ice and things that would melt or rot or grow mold easily, and threw them away. her load would be lighter, now. Then she sat on the big bed next to Hikari, who was in the middle on her back, waving her arms around, both of which Chihiro had attached a small furry bracelet that jingled. There she looked over a guide to the town and decided that tomorrow morning early they would take the bus to Saitama next, and plan from there.  
  
That done, after putting Hikari's jingle bracelets on her legs since she was hitting her head with them, Chihiro made half of another bottle of some formula.  
  
Hikari fell asleep, though, just like Chihiro had wanted, and she washed the bottles and rechecked her backpack, slipping the Town Guide into one of her pockets. A little memoir. She wondered if Hiroshi and Akio had noticed the only two girls left in their house was missing? Chihiro giggled like an idiot and lay down curled next to/around Hikari, after setting the alarm clock next to the bed.  
  
Not a bad place for free.  
  
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The next morning, Hikari was well awake before the alarm, and decided to let Chihiro know she wanted her diaper changed. Loudly. So Chihiro started to change her diaper, then decided to give Hikari a bath while she still had a sink and warm water. When that was finished and Hikari was all ready- looking, it was six a.m. with a small groan, Chihiro went about fixing things, strapped Hikari up who mumfed something into her shoulder, staring fixedly at Chihiro's neck, since that was all she could look at, and sighed. She heated up a canister she had found - one of those coffee canisters - she filled it with water then heated the water in the microwave thing until it was boiling. She capped it and put it in her side pocket.  
  
She fussed happily, though, when Chihiro put one of her jingle bracelets on her leg, and she kicked happily as they snuck out and to the bus stop. Five minutes early, Chihiro decided that having Hikari kick her in the stomach repeatedly wasn't fun anymore, so she put the bracelet on Hikari's wrist, which the baby just loved.  
  
The bus stopped at many places, bus stops in the middle of nowhere, and Chihiro suddenly wondered if she'd be able to get some train tickets? That would get her to one of the designated towns faster. How much did tickets cost? Did she have to be eighteen years or older to get some? Would Hikari need a ticket, or did infants ride free? She'd have to worry about that later.  
  
While on the bus, Chihiro did all sorts of things with Hikari. She sang softly, did a one-girl-version of patty-cake, tickled Hikari, smiled with her, laughed while Hikari fussed over the littlest things. And she fed her, of course. Hikari seemed to want to eat every few hours, it seemed - Kiyuu had said something about that, but Chihiro wasn't sure. She had been told that babies shouldn't be fed solids until they were a year old at least. She wondered about that - the can of baby formula wouldn't last forever. And certainly not a year long. Yuuko had never liked breast feeding, and that was where the formula came in.  
  
But still, the littlest things would make Hikari's eyes widen in awe and little sounds to escape her throat, and her arms to try and reach out to it. currently, this was Chihiro's whispy hair, which was mussed up and everywhere like usual. After she had washed her face, the bruises showed more clearly, but were eager to fade. Many people stared - since when did unknown little girls with messed up clothes and hair and bruises carrying tiny babies and a full backpack too large go ride buses around nowhere? Chihiro ignored them, and instead balanced Hikari carefully in her lap and fed her some more.  
  
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It was dark when she got off the bus, and she had to go to the bathroom, needed to change Hikari's diaper (Hikari thought so too), and she was incredibly hungry. Not to mention she had missed her original stop about an hour back. So she was lost, and the sun was fully set this time. This town was bigger then the last one, so a few people were still walking around, but there was no kind old man to get her a free room in what was probably a very expensive motel. Or had it been a hotel? She could never tell the difference.  
  
Hikari began to fuss, louder, shifting slightly - obviously not liking the stuff in her pants. Looking around, Chihiro found an alley way, and pulling out a flashlight changed her diaper behind a dumpster. Then she ate some rice balls out of her backpack and wrapped herself and Hikari in some blankets.  
  
She fed Hikari again, then sighed and suddenly wondered something; if she carried Hikari around all her life, would her baby sister ever learn to walk? What about the weather? Chihiro shivered as coold winds began to blow. November? But she would not object to a late snow fall. She was still cold, though, and after a moment wrapped Hikari tightly in the blankets and put everything back, then walked out of the alleyway, unsure of what to do. Wind nipped at her skin and tossed her hair carelessly around, and Hiakri made a tiny sound that Chihiro did not hear.  
  
Sighing, she began her search for an inn.  
  
Luckily, she found one. But they wouldn't give her a room because she was too young.  
  
Go figure.  
  
It was too expensive anyway.  
  
Finally she said she had been kidding and that her parents were already there, then went to the top most floor and hid in a closet that had a vent.  
  
Chihiro got absolutely no sleep that night, as each time she finally started to nod off Hikari would threaten to cry unless fed.  
  
She left early in the morning after eating some thing herself (rice balls - all she had packed) and outside in the morning cold she took a map and tried to figure things out, then wrnt o the bus stop and waited for the bus. Sleepily, she sat in the back, shielded, and changed Hikari's diaper, throwing it in a garbage can in the front. Nobody really noticed her.  
  
Only one of Hikari's bottles was clean, and the thermostat or whatever it was was only lukewarm. So she made one bottle and fed Hikari sparingly throughout the day.  
  
They reached another smaller town - the last of that bus's - and Chihiro got off. It was around five-thirty.  
  
She found some public bathrooms, and washed Hikari's bottles, and changed her diaper and clothes. Then she went in search of a place to heat up some more water and found a map. She could take another night bus in an hour to Saitama. It would take all night and probably in to the morning, but Chihiro decided once she was there she would find a place for sure. This wasn't going at all as she had planned.  
  
Finally she abandoned all sense of pride and common sense, and went to the nearest house. A man answered, and she explained that she needed to heat some water up in her hot thing. It turned out the man's wife was expecting child soon, and they both welcomed Chihiro and Hikari with open arms.  
  
Finally, after much questioning and evading, Chihiro ended up blurting out her entire story to Miya and Kai, and they listened. When she was finished, they of course wanted to call the police and send her home, but Chihiro told them about Hiroshi and Akio, and the threat made to Hikari - and her - and after some more convincing, she managed to convince them to let her alone.  
  
"We can't just send a six-year-old out alone," Miya argued. Her stomach was huge and round, and for a moment Chihiro thought she had had too many Twinkies before remembering her soon-to-be baby.  
  
"I agree," Kai said, and he thought a moment. "why don't you and Hikari stay here for the night? We can call the Child Abuse Hotline..."  
  
"NO! please," Chihiro said. "it'll only make things worse. I have some relatives in Nagano, my aunt and uncle and cousin, and they'll take care of me and everything. Please, let them handle things! I'm sorry to be such a terrible bother to you."  
  
"Not a bother at all!" Miya cried, hugging Chihiro akwardly. "you poor thing, you've been through more than any body should go through. Especially gifted and talented six-year-olds! You stay here for the night, now, and we'll get you to Nagano, okay?" she paused, then seemed at a loss as to what to do then say next.  
  
"I'll go with Chihiro and H8ikari on the train there," Kai said. "and drop her off at a bus station there - we can prganize to have her aunt and uncle meet her up there."  
  
"Yes, you must call them," Miya urged. She pushed a phone to Chihiro, which she picked up and dutifully pushed random nubers. A recording met her ears, the same 'bee beep bleep! We're sorry! The number you have dialed does not exist! Please hang up and try again!' over and over, but Chihiro spoke rapidly.  
  
"Michi mochi? Is Ogino there?" she paused as though listening. "hi aunt Jess! It's me, Chihiro," she paused. "um, Hikari was born and everyhting and other things - it's a very long story. Can I come and visit? No... daddy and Hiroshi are both gone and said if I organized something I could come... no! it's okay, Hikari and I have a ride there, you just need to meet us somewhere - no! I know the difference between an ax murderer and a kind stranger. No... okay... McDonalds, alright? Kay! Bai-bai!" she hung up just as Kai asked to speak to them. He shook his head.  
  
"Never mind," he said. "so we're meeting them at McDonalds?"  
  
"Yeah," Chihiro said. On the floor in the living room, Hikari woke up and began to fuss then cry. Chihiro jumped up and took her now-hot-water-filled thing and began to make a bottle, but Miya waddled over and did it for her.  
  
"I'll need to practice," she explained. They gave Chihiro some more diapers for Hikari, and the next day Kai took her to a train station. They rode all day, got a place for the night, rode the next day, another place for the night, and on the afternoon of the third day they reached their destination.  
  
At a McDonalds that Chihiro chose randomly, Kai went to go to the bathroom, and Chihiro scrawled a quick note thanking him and Miya and apologizing for wasting so much of their things money and time. She left a ten dollar bill, and then left at a run with Hikari.  
  
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A/N: Okay, next chap coming soon. Any questions then ask, okay? 


	8. A Place Called Home

A/N: okay.  
  
Disclaimer: no own.  
  
Chapter Finished: 5/?/03  
  
Third Person POV  
  
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She ran and ran until she was panting heavily, then finally rested in an alleyway behind another dumpster. She looked at Hikari, who was fussing with her hair.  
  
"I shouldn't have done that, Kari," she told her little sister. The babe glanced up through her great dark long lashes and made a little sound of contentment.  
  
"You know, Kari, you don't have a mother or father or brother," Chihiro continued. "and I've been an awful big sister to you. so how about I be your mother instead? I'll explain everything to you when you're older." Then Chihiro giggled a little, to relieve tension and sadness at cheating the nice, kind couple so rottenly. She felt terrible about it. "it'll feel strange calling you my daughter," she continued aloud, trying to distract her mind. It didn't work, and she cried for a while, and eventually Hikari joined in, and they cried together until Chihiro fed Hikari and stood, wiping her tears away. she prayed Kai and Miya would not hate her and Hikari for this.  
  
"We'll take a bus out to nowhere," she muttered, walking to a bus station. "then walk until we find a town. That'll be our new home, Kari-chan."  
  
She ate a rice ball while waiting for the bus, and rode the rest of the day. At night, she stopped at a quiet, small town, and escaped into a church from the biting wind. She ended up staying the night there, but didn't get much sleep since Hikari insisted on being fed so much.  
  
The next day, Chihiro took a random bus, didn't even look what where when or why, and got off that afternoon at a large field. She could see the roof tops of houses far away, and cut through tall grass to get there.  
  
She stopped every now and then to rest, feed Hikari, change her diaper, ate a rice ball now and then, and continued on her way. She made it to the town by dark, and decided she liked it.  
  
She also decided this would be her new home. She knew very well she wouldn't be able to buy a house and all of that, but she could find a job maybe? That would keep them fed, and they could sleep at an inn, an alley, any place. there was a forest, just like the one with the Kohaku River in it, except bigger. There were many houses, and no big stores, just a few smaller ones. Chihiro wandered around for a bit, then when the cold began to get too bad and Hikari was fussing rather loudly once more, she slipped inside what looked like a church.  
  
There was nobody there. She sat on one of the hard seat in the back row and changed Hikari's diaper, and fed her, then ate a rice ball - her last one - and sighed, looking around.  
  
There was somebody there. An old woman played a great big organ, and her back was to Chihiro. Curious, Chihiro took Hikari and walked up the aisle and to the front, up some steps to the front wall, where a great big cross lay propped against the wall, next to the big organ and the old lady playing it.  
  
When the song finished, the lady looked at Chihiro.  
  
"Homeless?" she asked in a voice cracked with wisdom. Chihiro nodded dumbly, and carefully lay Hikari down at her feet. "Shame," the old woman said, looking back to the organ. "it's Thanksgiving, dear child," she continued. "have you come to beg God to give you something to be thankful for?"  
  
"No, ma'am," Chihiro murmured. "I actually came in to get warm. I didn't know it was Thanksgiving already - why hasn't it snowed? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your family?"  
  
The old lady patted the seat next to her on the bench, and Chihiro sat next to her.  
  
"You know, Organs are interesting instruments; each key makes a different sound, unique, and when they all play together it becomes haunting and pure." She played the first few notes to a slow song that Chihiro didn't recognize. "but when one plays on its own, it is single - unique, but lacking in the most important part of music: harmony."  
  
Chihiro reflected on these words thirty minutes later in the room of an old motel. Hikari was sleeping peacefully, and the lady had simply written down on a piece of paper this address, and Chihiro had found this room with the last of her money. She needed a job - and she hadn't known it was Thanksgiving. She glanced over from where she was staring out the dark window to where Hikari lay snoring lightly.  
  
"I guess I'm your mother, Kari," she said quietly. "But what have I given you to be thankful for?"  
  
she returned her gaze back to the window. She didn't know what the old woman's words meant, but they must have been wise and had a meaning to them somewhere. They confused her.  
  
'I'll think about that later,' Chihiro thought, going to bed with Hikari. 'tomorrow I need a job and a real place to stay.'  
  
She fell asleep, and Hikari let her rest for a good three or four hours before announcing she was hungry.  
  
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The next day Chihiro slept in, relishing the fact that this was her new home. Had Akio and Hiroshi called the police? Were there missing posters with her face up all over Tokyo?  
  
Her thoughts turned to her friends, Miya and Kai, the old woman. Then she saw Yuuko's smiling face only to be replaced by that weak, pale skull she had seen last.  
  
Chihiro cried herself back to sleep, and Hikari seemed to take pity on her again by letting her sleep a little longer before not only being hungry, but messy diaper too.  
  
So Chihiro used the personal little bathroom to take a bath, give Hikari a bath, and brush her hair, and all of that good stuff. Then she took the last thing of Yuuko she had besides Hikari - the perfume bottle. She inhaled it deeply and hugged it to her chest before crying again and making Hikari another meal for later. She fed her on and off as she prepared things, then left, checking out.  
  
The lady at the desk gave her directions to various restaurants and cafés, and Chihiro wrote them all down on a piece of paper. Time to do some job hunting.  
  
She went all over the town all day, talking to managers and whatnot, and it wans't until around late afternoon when she was feeling partivcularly hungry, that one boss didn't burst out laughing and turn her away. instead, the head of the Café she was at just smiled amusedly while Chihiro told him the experience she had had at the Chibi Café in Tokyo under Usagie and Madame Zoltanne. The man turned her away, of course, but gave her two different addresses to go to where the managers knew Madame Zolatanne. Chihiro thanked him and left. The first one was probably the most elaborate restaurant in town - the manager was sympathetic towards Chihiro, but wasn't on speaking terms with Madame Zolatanne, and six-year-old could not work.  
  
The next was at a grocery store, and there the manager was once again sympathetic.  
  
"We little grocery stores don't use waitresses," he eplained to Chihiro. He examined her crest fallen face and said, "why don't you leave the work to your parents?"  
  
"I don't have parents," Chihiro said before she could stop herself. "I'm... I'm Hikari's mother," she hefted a snoozing Hikari up a little bit, "and I can work! I can work very hard!"  
  
He was definitely taken aback. "well, where are you staying?"  
  
"With my aunt. She's gonna get thrown out on the streets," Chihiro added innocently, pretending to not know what that meant.  
  
So the six-year-old got a job by organizing things. She was only paid half of what the other employees were, but Chihiro was happy to be doing it. she spent the night at the church, and the old woman gave her some things; rice balls, clean diapers, blankets.  
  
A week passed with so far nothing overly interesting happening. The old lady was actually the sermon, or so Chihiro guessed, and she seemed to know a lot.  
  
A month passed, and Chihiro was given her first "pay check" in cash. She bought another bottle, more diapers, rice balls, and a small can of the special baby formula that took quite a while to track down. She basically lived in the church, then the old lady took her home with her.  
  
"Look at this," the old woman said one night, handing Chihiro a piece of paper.  
  
It read:  
  
LOST: TWO-THREE MONTH YEAR OLD BABY GIRL, DARK EYES, KIDNAPPED SUPPOSEDLY BY SIX-YEAR-OLD OGINO CHIHIRO  
  
Followed by a description of both Chihiro and Hikari.  
  
IF FOUND, PLEASE ARREST SIX-YEAR-OLD AND TAKE BABY TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS  
  
With Hiroshi and Akio's address. Chihiro gasped, swallowed, paled, flushed, then looked at the old woman. Nothing needed to be said.  
  
"You have a very gifted sis - daughter, Miss Chihiro," the old lady said. "I've been hiding you, and I will. I won't question you."  
  
Chihiro looked up at her. "Thank you very, very much," she said.  
  
It wasn't long until the old woman began to teach her school lessons when she wasn't working. She used to be a home-school teacher, so it was no problem for her. She said that she'd enroll Chihiro as her granddaughter in the city school next year in second grade. Chihiro thanked her.  
  
Soon January had come and gone, followed by February, then March, followed by April. Chihiro was promoted to an actual employee and worked more. When she wasn't at the house, the old lady took care of Hikari, who was growing fast.  
  
May and June passed much slower than Chihiro would have liked. She hadn't explored the town except to go back and forth between the store and the church and the old lady's house. Her bruises were all gone, and she looked normal now that her hair was long enough to be put in a full out ponytail. She had a few scars - mental and emotional - and sometimes she cried about them.  
  
July and August were hard, but Chihiro ended up getting to know the town pretty good in those months. In September, she was enrolled in school as the old woman's granddaughter, and her birthday was actually celebrated, followed by Hikari's.  
  
"You're a whole year old, Kari-chan!" Chihiro told her fondly. She had taken to the idea of being Hikari's mother, and so had the old woman.  
  
"Frosting, Ma-ma!" Hikari replied, happily covered from head to toe in frosting. The old lady said that Hikari was talking very fluently at a very young age. Just like Chihiro had. Now Chihiro was working after school and on Saturdays. It was all over town, the youngest worker ever - but after some convincing and a little bit of court, the press didn't bother Chihiro or her "grandmother" or "daughter" ever again. The papers and news never reached to Tokyo, so Chihiro and Hikari were safe.  
  
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A/N: okay, sorry about that chapter it sucked. *sigh* alright, I admit it; I've got Writers' Block. I could see so clearly Haku and Chihiro's meeting, but Chihiro is too young, and I'm not sure how to make time jumps without messing it up. Sorry. 


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